Tamers Game
by shadow kitty
Summary: [complete] The Digimon Emporer left an involuntary legacy, it doesn't occupy the digital world, or our world and it wants things 'fixed'. The Tamers have a problem, and all they've got is an old riddle from a college student to help them.
1. Remember

s/k: Hey! I'm re-posting and renovating this fic, I was reading over it a while ago and decided that I hated how it was written. The plot stays the same, I'm just adding more detail and stuff, so it'll look like it's started all over again, but it hasn't.

Ch. 1

Darkness, warm, comfortable. She kept her eyes closed and snuggled deeper under her covers, red hair tousled and tangled into one giant knot. Rika Nonaka was completely content for almost a minute before her sanctuary was disturbed.

"Rika! Wake up honey, its time for breakfast" Rumiko called. Rika rolled over to glance at her alarm clock before hiding her head under her pillow and groaning; 6:45 am. _There is absolutely no reason to be up this early. It's stupid. I revolt. The America's don't have school on Saturdays, so why do the Japanese? _She stayed wrapped in her blankets for another 7 minutes before her mother called her again. Rika sat up, rubbed some of the sleep out of her eyes and got dressed.

A few minutes later, she was sitting in the kitchen of the Nonaka household, eating homemade pancakes, a first since her mother didn't usually cook anything. Ignoring the smell of slightly burned batter, Rika helped herself to a small stack and started to cut them up. _I remember when this would have been normal, now it just seems superficial._ She thought to herself, her mind began to wander back and forth, not really on anything. After a moment more of staring blankly at her food in thought, her mind wandered back to the defeat of the D-reaper. It was something she looked back on as an accomplishment and the most hellishly fun time of her life.

_Flashback_

The eerie glow of the D-reaper smothered her vision. Gallantmon had just gone to rescue Jeri, leaving the rest of them to deal with the D-reaper. The red jelly walls squirmed and wiggled in protest to having the Tamers inside their barrier, the group was slightly lost at how to finish the task they'd started.

Ryo's thoughts bounced all over the place, any problem could be solved if it was looked at the right way, or tackled a little differently, or if you had enough fire power. He'd been in a situation like this in the digital world before, when he'd been 12 or so. He and his friend Raine had been faced with a similar situation, it had ended with Raine's death when Ryo had given her his power for an attack. _I'm stronger then that now though, way stronger then she was then, the surge'll be bigger, so will the rush, I can do it. . . it's not like we have any other options.  
_  
"Here, Rika – I've got an idea." Justimon said grimly, or at least as grim as he could get. A red blade grew from his right arm, about a meter and a half long. "Give your power to me." The others there stared at him, why had he chosen Rika? She was certainly powerful, but there were a lot of risks with giving another digimon your power, for both parties involved.

Rika stared at him with an expression hidden by Sokoyumons own expression. "Ryo, you're crazy." She said flatly, followed with a statement that had more emotion to it. "You could die."

"It's a risk I'm willing to take." He said, noticing that she hadn't mentioned the weak and dangerous position it put herself in.

After a second, she thought of something else. "You're doing this to impress me, aren't you?"

"Maybe I am, pumpkin." He smiled as he said it, the last word sarcastic. Her expression softened, _it's a stupid stunt, it's a stupid stunt,_ her mind chanted quietly, she ignored it.

_End Flashback  
_  
"Rika, why aren't you eating?" asked her mother.

"Oh," she muttered, her thoughts suddenly interrupted. "just thinking. . ." Her mother let it drop; Rika never seemed to want to talk about anything with her, not that this was a huge change from the past, but it still bothered her.

Rika thought all along the walk to the train station, and on the ride, and on the remaining walk to her new school; where Ryo interrupted them again.

"Morning Rika!" He smiled, "You sleep okay? You look, well, depressed."

"Yeah, yeah I'm okay," She nodded, "just fine."

All the way up until lunch break it was like that, Ryo trying pretty desperately to start a conversation, and Rika just nodding. Finally Ryo snapped, he cared for Rika more then any other person he knew, and he didn't think he could stand it if she was mad at him. So he asked the question whose answer he dreaded.

"Rika?"

"Yes?"

"Are you, you know, mad at me?"

Her head snapped up from looking at the ground, startled by the question. "No, no I'm not mad at you. Just a little preoccupied, it's nothing to worry about." She finished, adding a little smile to keep him happy. _What is wrong with me? If even Ryo's noticed, then I really am obviously doing something weird._

"You're sure?" he continued.

"Positive."

"Okay," Ryo said, still not convinced. "You can always talk to me Rika, or Jeri or. . ."

"I know Ryo, it's okay, really." She said softly.

"All right." He had to resist a strong urge to just take a step forward and wrap her in his arms protectively. He wasn't stupid though, he knew that if he did that she would either punch him, just be incredibly confused and push him away, or not talk to him for a while until she thought she understood what he'd done. Resisting the urge to sigh he let the issue drop to the back of his mind, _and the mind games begin to take hold. Whoopee.  
_


	2. Dominos

Ch. 2

That night as Ryo lay in bed, he began to wonder about Rika. Why is she hiding from me? What is she hiding? Silence was his only answer. He let out a long sigh, and rolled over to look out his window. The moon was full, and threw a decent amount of light on the streets outside. Ryo was restless, hot, and for an unknown reason, sweating. He grumbled and climbed out of bed. While getting dressed, he thought about what he was planning to do. Wandering around Tokyo in the middle of the night wasn't incredibly safe, there were worse places to do it though, New York, for instance. You shouldn't be doing this, his conscience nagged anyway. Shut up!! He thought, and climbed out the window.  
  
. . . .  
  
At the same time, Rika was quite seriously considering doing the same. Her room was hot and stuffy, climbing out her window and having a walk in the cool breeze was pretty inviting. As she sat on the edge of her bed, long hair combed straight. She weighed the 'rational possibilities' against the 'I could out of that by...'s in her head, the 'I could out of that by...'s won. Carefully, so as to not wake anybody up, she got dressed in her darkest clothing. Black capris, a black T-shirt and a pair of black and gray shoes. Then, silently as a cat, she left the house.  
  
After almost an hour of wandering aimlessly through the park, she decided that it might be a good idea to go home; but she hadn't taken two steps before some one called her name.  
  
"Rika? Is that you?"  
  
She whipped around to see a familiar figure silhouetted by the moon. "Ryo?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
"I could ask you the same question."  
  
: pause :  
  
"Okay then, what do we talk about?" Ryo asked, breaking the still night air.  
  
"I don't know." Rika replied  
  
"We, could just walk." Ryo suggested. Rika nodded her agreement, and the two began tracing her steps around the park (in circles).  
  
She found great comfort in Ryo walking with her, and oddly enough, found herself thinking about whether or not the walk would be perfect if he put his arm around her shoulders, or waist. You're being stupid, she told herself. _He has not interest in you and there's not reason – oh shit. What time is it!?_ As if reading her mind, Ryo suddenly blurted:  
  
"Ah! It's almost two in the morning! I gotta get home!"  
  
"Me too." Rika agreed, "My mom would skin me alive if she ever found out about this."  
  
"Hm," Ryo smiled, "I'll see you at school tomorrow."  
  
"Kay."  
  
"Oh, and I need to tell you something at lunch, okay?" He added randomly, "Don't let me forget."  
  
"Okay Ryo, see you later!"  
  
With that, the two parted. Ryo with one thing on his mind, I'm going to tell her tomorrow. He thought as he watched Rika's dark figure disappear into the night, then walked home.  
  
As she walked, Rika was once again was thinking about Ryo. _Okey, there is something very seriously wrong with me, he's chased after by well over the entire population of girls at school, I'm just the friend, and I'm good at that._ To make herself feel better, she kicked a lamp post as she passed it. _What if I want to be more then a friend?_ She paused as something scuffed on the sidewalk behind her. _Odd,_ her gut told her to hide, to get away. She sunk back into the doorway of a small drug store, working to keep her breathing silent and even. _It's probably a cat, in fact, I'm willing to bet quite a lot that I'm being afraid of_ - Her thoughts were cut off as a shape descended on her in her hiding place.  
  
"You should learn to keep your thoughts silent, Tamer." A voice hissed, it was high, cruel, and it sounded pleased. Rika tried to scream even as she felt a set of claws brush her neck, some sort of venom starting to invade her blood stream. Within a minute she was limp, and the shape disappeared into the night.  
  
. . . .  
  
Jeri awoke the next morning late. She threw herself out of her bed and pulled on clothes as fast as she could. Not bothering to gather any of the textbooks that lay scattered on her floor she ran out the door and down the hall to the kitchen, her backpack and homework at the table from the night before. She hastily threw everything in and grabbed the lunch her mother had left sitting on the counter, sprinting to the front door she jammed her feet into her shoes and started towards the school.  
  
_I can't believe I slept in that much!_ She berated herself inwardly, she stopped running once she's covered 2 and a half blocks, out of breath. As she reached the end of the street she stopped at the split of paths she could take. The street carried on, it was almost 2 blocks longer, but definitely a safer route in comparison to the alley way that twisted towards the school in front of her. She could even see the building at the end. _It's just once, and going to be late if I go the other way. . .  
_  
Making a split second decision she started down the alley way, hoping that because it was the first time she'd used it that she wouldn't get into any trouble. When she'd reached the half point, and the school was clearly visible, she began to relax. As if on cue, she tripped and fell hard onto the gravel and dirt, her right hand and left knee immediately snapping forward to catch her. Jeri pulled herself up, examining her knew as she did so, it was skinned, a little bloody, but so was her hand. Looking back along the road she couldn't see anything that might have tripped her, just a graveled alley.  
  
"Probably tripped on your feet," She smiled to herself. "Don't start getting nervous of nothing." Turning on her heal, she started walking again, it wasn't far to the school now, and she might actually be on time. A shadow passed over her, comparable to the shadow a bird casts when it flies over your head. She could have sworn something brushed her neck.  
  
"That's her?"  
  
"Yes, Change."  
  
Without warning, Jeri's vision dimmed into darkness, tha last thing she remembered seeing was a disfigured creature swooping down on her. . .  
  
. . . .  
  
The next day at school, Ryo was patiently awaiting Rika's arrival. _Where could she be? The bell's going to ring in about five seconds! She's never been late before!_ He paced in front of the door until the bell rang, his stomach stoutly refusing to stay put and abruptly walking away when he realized that she wasn't coming. _Science. . ._ the thought of his first class itched at his mind, _you're going to be late!_ He turned slowly, pushing the doors open and feeling slightly abandoned.  
  
. . . .  
  
Rika woke up in complete darkness; she was in what felt like a small stone cell. It smelt like mold had been growing there from the dawn of time. She moved her hand up to feel the marks on her neck, but as soon as that hand reached her collar bone, the other came up off the ground. _What?_ She grabbed her wrist and followed a fine chain leading to her other wrist, then to the cold stone floor.  
  
"Well, this isn't good." She said out loud.  
  
"Of course it isn't." A voice beside her mumbled in agreement.  
  
"Who's there!?" Rika asked as she turned, ready for just about anything; accept this. "Jeri? Is that you?"  
  
"Yes, it's me." The other girl sounded defeated, like a balloon with a hole in it.  
  
"How did you get here?" Rika asked; it was not a situation the average person usually found themselves in.  
  
"Well, I was walking to school this morning, and I, well I was late. So I took a short cut through a back alley." She paused here.  
  
"Yeah, so how'd that get you here?"  
  
"I tripped on something," Jeri continued, "but when I got up to see what it was, there wasn't anything there. I decided that I'd just tripped on my feet. As soon as I turned to keep going to school, a voice said 'That's her, that's the one' then it hit my head, I think, and I woke up here. Chained right next to you."  
  
"When you say 'it'," Rika asked suddenly, "Does that mean you saw whatever 'it' was?"  
  
"Well I. . ." Jeri stumbled for words and then went silent, "Rika I was so scared when it jumped out in front of me!" she started to cry, "I'm not brave like you or Takato or Henry. But I wish I was because if some one ever manages to find us and rescue us, I'll just be dead weight! I'll slow you all down! And I don't want to stay down here where 'it' can get me again. I want to go home to where my old sock puppet is, and where my dad is and where Takato is and - "Before she could continue, something, probably 'it', slammed her against the rock wall of the cell, hard.  
  
"Stop your whining you insignificant little piece of bait!" A harsh voice said, Jeri screamed in both pain and terror. "All you do is cry and whine! Maybe I should give you something to truly make noise about!"  
  
"You leave her alone!!" Rika shouted, "Only cowards attack when their opponents can't fight back!!" What ever it was, it dropped Jeri and stepped side ways so that it was standing in front of Rika.  
  
"Are you calling me a coward?" Asked the voice, the tone was so dangerous that Rika didn't dare answer. As the silence stretched out, it reached down and pulled her up by her shirt collar. "Answer me!!"  
  
"You can't even seem to face two teenagers without putting them at a disadvantage in some way, so damn straight I'm calling you a coward! You're not even letting us look at our enemy!"  
  
'It' obviously didn't like this one bit, two sharp punches were delivered, one to Rika's jaw, the other to her stomach. All the air left her lungs with an audible 'whoosh'. "I'll break you, Tamer, you're no stronger then the other; and I've got what will seem like an eternity to do it." 'It' let her drop to the floor in a heap, fading out of the cell, and into the black.  
  
Rika swore as soon as she had enough air in her lungs to do so. "I'll show you someone that'll break!" She snarled.  
. . . .   
  
s/k: Hah! Second chapter re-posted, I feel so productive. Spooky, neh?


	3. Conversations

s/k: I didn't post the fourth chapter and not this one... of course I didn't... my memory is fool-proof...

Ch. 3

Ryo and Takato sat under a large shady tree in the schools field at lunch that day, Ryo completely lost in thought about Rika and Jeri both being absent on the same day. He knew it was something that he was probably overanalyzing, and that he shouldn't have to worry; but 'shouldn't' was a word he'd come to despise while wandering the digital world, anything that 'shouldn't' happen, always did. To him, the word resembled a huge, lumbering oxymoron.  
  
"I guess I just don't like it." He finally stated, "I mean, she seemed healthy enough yesterday, and it's not like she randomly skips school – anymore - and. . . " Ryo continued muttering to himself quietly, Takato staring at him like he was a lunatic.  
  
"You are so paranoid!" He finally said, effectively cutting the other boy off. "I'm willing to bet she slept in and her grandma just let her take the day off. Jeri, well I'll admit I have not idea where she is, but it's not like some evil digimon has regenerated itself and ate them while we weren't looking." Takato grinned. "Relax."  
  
"You're crazy Matsuda."  
  
Takato looked at him again, _Ryo's normally a little protective of the tamers, but why so much focus on Rika? Okey, well, other then the obvious wild-ness she has over the rest of us, but still . . ._ Then it dawned on him. "Oh! I get it!"  
  
"What? What?!"  
  
"Well, I think I get it, Jeri's been saying it for ages, I can't believe I didn't figure anything out until now - ."  
  
"TAKATO!" Ryo glared.  
  
He sounded so triumphant when he finally declared his thoughts that it would have been funny to any one else listening. "You like Rika!"  
  
"Nani! How'd you get that?!" Ryo cried, _it's not that obvious, is it? Uh oh. . .  
_  
"It's pretty apparent Ryo, you're like an open book."  
  
"Uh. . ." He turned a bright red, very tomato like. "It's not, you know, _that_ obvious is it?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Oh"  
  
"So, when were you planning to tell Rika all of this?" Takato just couldn't resist.  
  
"Well, that's one of the reasons it's a little, what's the word? Inconvenient that she's not here at this - " Poor Ryo didn't even get to finish his sentence.  
  
"You're kidding! Today!" He started laughing all over again.  
  
"Matsuda Takato!" Ryo shouted exasperatedly, "You're not helping!"  
  
"Sorry, but it's funny!" The brown haired boy grinned, trying to suppress another outburst.  
  
Ryo gave up, seeing that he just couldn't win in this situation. His sandwich lay untouched, and his stomach was talking to him. Before he could get any in his mouth, both boys' D-arcs began to beep. They glanced at each other before Ryo dove for his pack and Takato's hand plunged into his pocket.  
  
Henry, who was sitting a little ways away looked at his D-arc like he'd just been slapped. _Uemari was for real?!_ Slowly, he stood up and started towards Takato and Ryo.  
  
"Henry?" Suzi asked as she broke off from another group to follow him. "What's going on? Why are the D-arcs beeping?"  
  
"Suzi? Could you go get Kenta and Kazu please?" Suzi just nodded and ran to find the other two boys, she was very confused.  
  
A minute later, they were all sitting beneath the tree, only Henry seemed to have any idea what was going on. "You might want to sit down," Henry mumbled, "this could take a while. . ."  
  
"I still don't get it." Suzi muttered rebelliously, after Henry had explained their current situation to the best of his knowledge two or three times already.

"Basically," Kazu started slowly "there were tamers a.k.a. digidestined before us. There were eleven of them, and when they sealed away the last enemy they were fighting, something connected to it was also sealed. This evil thing was part of a plan set up by the Digimon Emperor; it was a back up thing so that if he was somehow de- crowned it would come back after the next batch of digidestined and finish his take over job." Kazu sucked in a breath of air, taking a second to think out what he was going to say next.

"It would steel the three most vulnerable of the group and keep them locked away in its home/dungeon place, but the dungeon thing is in this world called the Dark Ocean, we've never been there and we don't know how to get there."  
  
Kenta nodded. "The creature would keep them locked up in there until one of them or one of the others cracked and told him who the Creator had taken form as. After all of that, he would kill the three he had, capture the rest of the tamers and use them to kill the Creator. Once the Creator was gone, he would be in the clear, as soon as he let one drop of innocent blood hit the grass, or dirt, or what ever, three worlds would collide into one that he would rule. The three worlds colliding would be the digital world, our world, and this Dark Ocean place."  
  
"Yeah, right." Henry said, "That's what we're looking at, but he doesn't need the Creator dead to merge the worlds, it doesn't matter if he's dead or not, he just needs innocent blood to touch the ground by his hand. He could murder half the city on the school roof and not let one single drop hit the ground. That's the kind of power e holds over us."  
  
"Well," muttered Takato, "that's a nice image. Anything else we need to know?"

"I have a question." Kazu spoke up from his position near the edge of their little group, leaning against the tree. "What makes the Creator so important? What did he do? Why's this thing after him?"

Henry shrugged one of his shoulders. "As far as I understand, the Creator had a major role to play with the D-reaper, the creation of digimon, and what their true purpose is. I mean, they can't have actually been made simply to fight amongst themselves. There has to be a reason, and the evil digimon seems to know what it is."

Takato started to play with his D-arc. "Any idea what their true purpose is then? I mean, I really like having a digimon partner, any kid would."

"I think I know." Ryo joined the conversation again. "When I was wandering around, before I met you guys in the digital world, my friend and I stumbled on this little oasis on the fringe of the badlands we were passing through. You know how the most random things happen in that world? Well, the water fall was coming out of thin air, for one, and the rocks all around it seemed to go from opaque, to translucent, to transparent or at least invisible. At the entrance, there was a huge boulder with some weird word carved into it, I can't remember it now, but I think it must have been the name of the place. Anyway, when you went through the waterfall though, there was this huge tablet; it reminded me of the Rosetta stone. On it in about 4-5 different languages, it started talking about digimon serving humanity, and 'the true purpose for which the monsters were created' if I remember correctly."  
  
Henry looked at him. "I think I may have heard a myth about that place from Terriermon, it's called Wellen Gehen. I don't know what it actually means, it sounds German, but it's supposed to be this place or origins, not a lot of people have ever seen it. In fact, you and this friend of yours were probably the first, maybe the second group, max, of people to find it."

Ryo's eyes seemed to seemed to darken for a second, casting his azure gaze to the grass for a moment and bowing his head slightly. "Yeah, sounds about right." Suzi and Takato picked up on the change of mood in their friend instantly, either none of the others did or they ignored it as something insignificant.

"Alright, any other bits of important information?" Kazu asked, completely oblivious.  
  
"Yeah, two things, one is that there's a poem about reversing innocent blood or something, here." He pulled out a piece of crumpled paper to read out loud. . .

"_Sometimes things happen, all falls to disarray / Sometimes people die, that's the way of the game  
  
__But when innocent blood, has dampened the soil / Beware of the two, who reverse winners spoil  
  
In the time of great darkness, when the worlds have merged / Uninvited they come, a boy and a girl  
  
They will beat all the odds, until at journey's end / One is taken from other, may the sacrifice mend  
  
The worlds split and peace can reign, only one shall stay alive / With the help of the others, she left may survive  
  
Only true hearts can conquer, the pain yet to come / Beware to the Tamers, name's meaning is sung._"

Ryo glanced at Takato, who simply shrugged, pretending politely that he hadn't noticed Ryo's moment of. . . almost mourning, intending to ask him about it later.  
  
"Well," said Suzi, "we can figure that out later, what was the other thing you wanted to tell us?"  
  
Henry looked sick, "The Creator, you know, he's. . ." He trailed off, then tried again. "He's my dad."  
  
Suzi's normally healthy tan face paled. "That's, that's not possible. Dad didn't have a huge contribution to digimon, not that big. . . did he? I mean, that's not right, you'r wrong Henry; the bad guys can always target the good guys, but it's against the rules to go after family and friends. It isn't done, it's mean, it's not right. . ." She trailed on, as if she could change it by rationalizing everything. She'd matured a whole lot in three years.  
  
Henry took a second, and truly only a second, to regain his composure. He'd obviously found a way to deal with his shock before-hand, "I know this because of a lady named Meiko Uemari. She told me all about this forgotten bit of writing - possibly from your stone, Ryo - and the things we could do with our D-arcs. The idea here is something like when we faced the Deva's, but a little more personal. I wouldn't be surprised if the reason Rika ans Jeri aren't here is because we didn't get our information fast enough."

Kazu smirked his happy smirk. "You know, I've been getting kinda bored with all this 'nothing happening' business, despite the obvious problems, it's good to know we're needed again."

Despite himself, and his logical way of thinking, Kenta nodded too. "Admit it guys, even though this is so bad, and so horrible, and so dangerous on so many levels, it's almost. . . nice at the same time."

Ryo nodded only slightly. "It's nice to be wanted. Now, when do we leave?"

"Well, we have to get Rika and Jeri back right?" Henry asked rhetorically. "So we go to them."

. . . .

s/k: Actually, I think I may have indeed updated this before, but it's lots better now, so meep. Anyway, you know how I've been ignoring ff.n lately? Well, Tapestry of Lies is due to be posted within the next month. So there's that to look forward too, and I was thinking of doing a story on Ryo and his fictitious friend Raine. They'd be a little older then 8, the fic would probably cover from when they met at 8 to her death at about. . . 13/14. Yes? No? Good idea? Bad idea? Review even though it's a re-post?


	4. Escape

s/k: Hah! Four chapters reposted! dances around

  
Ch. 4

Rika's head was pounding, someone screamed. Then came a harsh grating voice:  
  
"Just remember Tamer, if you don't tell my master whatever it is he wants, we'll have another 'talk' soon." Jeri sobbed quietly and nodded, _just go away! Please!  
_  
"Keep this in mind, it was cluttered thoughts that got your friend caught, you should learn to watch what you think." Another voice muttered, it was higher, more ruthless.  
  
She whimpered and crawled over to where Rika was laying. Shuffling footsteps shuffled their way out of the cell.  
  
"Rika! Rika, please wake up, please!"  
  
"Okay, I'm good," Rika murmured thickly, "What happened?"  
  
"After it knocked you out, it left and came back with its 'master'. They asked me a bunch of questions about a Creator. When I told them I didn't know what they were talking about, they weren't impressed and - ." Jeri paused, her eyes drifting down to her battered legs. Rika's own eye was caught by a nasty looking slice 3 inches long running down her left shin. She went to tear off some of her long black shirt to wrap around it, and found the material to be stronger then she'd anticipated. After a minute, she managed to get a usable amount off and tie it over the cut; there were others, obviously, but she couldn't fix everything. Jeri continued: "Then it just threatened me some more and left." Her voice quavered, she was terrified.  
  
"Okay," Rika nodded, "you take a nap, sleep will help. If they come back with some sort of food, I'll wake you up."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"No problem."

  
. . . .

"So, how exactly are we going to get to the digital world? That portal in Guilmon's hideout closed last week, inconvenient, huh?" Kazu said, suddenly the simplicity of their plan vanished.  
  
"Like this." Henry grinned a little; he tossed a new card to each of them. It was yellow, with light blue for the 'D' on the back. "These will transport us back and forth between the three worlds. Just say where you want to go when you swipe the card."  
  
"Okay." The others nodded, it sounded simple enough now.  
  
Henry looked each of them in the eye before saying: "Right, swipe the card. We're going to the Dark Ocean!"

Ryo noticed a slight flare of annoyance that Henry had taken Takato's unquestioned role as their 'leader' without any outside opinion. It bothered him a bit, but he told himself it was nothing, and promised no to cause any trouble on purpose. The Tamers swiped their new cards and disappeared from behind the tree in the school yard.

  
. . . .

A large bowel of something was placed in front of Rika, it both looked and smelled absolutely disgusting. As the thing, 'it' turned to leave, she said bluntly:  
  
"Do you really expect us to eat this and survive?"  
  
'It' whipped around, its eyes glinting dangerously. "Do you see a turkey dinner in your near future, Tamer? Unless you do, I'd eat what you've got. I personally wouldn't mind seeing you beg as you starve, but that's not something I make decisions on."  
  
"Better to starve and die then stay under the tyranny of a 5 year olds rejected science experiment and its beloved mutant mummy." Rika stated, pressing herself against the bars and glaring.

"You think you're so much better then me, human? Isn't it your wonderful society that puts wild creatures in cages, simply for the pleasure of watching them?" The thing returned her glare. "Yet you choose to view me as something lesser then yourself? I can hardly wait until you're shown what awaits you."  
  
"What, is it some gruesome fate at the hands of your ancient friend that smells like cat food? I'm terrified, help, someone save the poor defenseless Tamer." She gasped dramatically and feigned passing out. "Ever stop to think that maybe there's a reason we're Tamers? We've defeated far worse then you while bickering among ourselves, what makes _you _think that _you'll _have better luck when we're agreeing on things?"  
  
The dragonish creature came closer to Rika, until its face was level with hers and only separated by a few inches and the bars. "You have no idea what's coming for you." It narrowed its eyes into smaller slits and seemed to glow, shedding at least a little light in the dark enclosure.  
  
Rika found herself floating up a few inches off the ground, she had time to understand that something very bad was about to happen before an invisible hand snapped her roughly across the cell and into the stone wall. "AAAII!" She gave a sharp, short scream as the chains tightened and snapped her wrists before the bolts anchoring them came right out of the wall.  
  
Jeri sat up in alarm, her eyes widening at the scene that greeted her. "Rika!" She was torn between running to her friend and staying curled safely in her corner. 'It' turned its gaze to her form, she hadn't chosen either option and stayed kneeling from her nap on the ground to its right."Would you like to say something too, Tamer?" The strange creatures glare was focused entirely on Jeri, it ignored Rika as she sat up shakily in the background, her chains clattering off as they slipped over her bent hands.

Rika's mind was singly tracked, the pain coming in seemingly never-ending waves from her wrists was nauseating. It could not be ignored, particularly right after the event before the body had any chance of transporting its own painkillers to the area. Distantly, her eyes registered 'It' watching Jeri tremble.  
  
'It' stood there, breathing heavily for a moment. "You're not worth the effort now." The creature mumbled, it glanced at Rika, then hastened away from view.  
  
Rika just stayed where she was for a while, relishing the silence, and that she and Jeri were the only ones there. After an unknown amount of time: "Jeri?" Rika asked softly, her voice tight with pain. She got up slowly, careful to not move her arms any more then was absolutely needed. Jeri still hadn't answered. Looking over to her friend, she saw the other girl had collapsed backwards. Taking careful, smooth steps she managed to make her way over to the other girl. Jeri was twitching, it was as if she were asleep and fighting a nightmare.

Before anything was set in Rika's mind as to what might be happening with her friend, her digivice began to beep; she'd forgotten it was with her. "Stupid thing!" She mumbled thickly through her tears, hitting it with her elbow so that it dropped to the floor. A small, blurry picture appeared in 3D above the screen.  
  
"Rika!" Ryo's voice came from the little speaker in her D-arc, it sounded distant, like on a radio with bad reception. "Rika, can you hear me? Are you there?"  
  
"Ryo!" She smiled in spite of herself and her situation. "What the hell's going on?"  
  
The face of the little picture hardened. "That doesn't matter right now, you need to see if there's a way to get out of. . . wherever you are."

If Rika had ever felt a need to hit someone hard, it was now. "Any suggestions?" She snapped, she hadn't meant too, but recent events included, she was entitled to snap. Without really expecting an answer from Ryo, she studied the stone cell carefully. The section of the bar wall that acted like a door had a gap under it, maybe . . .

She used her foot to push her D-arc across the floor towards the gate (much to Ryo's protest, as he couldn't see anything), then very, very cautiously lowered herself so that she was on her stomach on the ground. It wasn't actually very difficult to get under the 'door', the cell was obviously meant to hold larger captives, and her own captors must have expected the chains to hold herself and Jeri. Her greatest challenge at that moment was how to pick up her D-arc. Eventually, she managed to force it into one of the baggy pockets of her pants with her elbow.

"This is ludicrous!" She whispered, tears stinging her eyes again. The cell was one of many down a long stone hall, towards the end Rika was currently facing, she heard heavy footsteps, and the same high, cruel voice that had found her in the shadows. Turning, she ran down the hall in the opposite direction as fast as she dared. She chanced a glance backwards and glimpsed the rusty red skin of 'It' before her head faced forward, and registered the wall in front of her. Closing her eyes against the in-escapable impact, she braced herself for the pain that would come with it. After 2 agonizingly long seconds, she still hadn't hit the wall.

Confused, she opened her eyes and slowed to a jog, then stopped. The scene she saw wasn't like anything she had expected. There wasn't any colour, it was all blacks, whites, and shades of grey. She was in a dead forest, and through the trees, she could see a beach. The only sounds were that of the surf. Deciding to put as much distance as she could between herself and the now either non-existent or invisible prison, she ran down onto the sand. It stretched on for miles into the grey fog on both sides of her, but to her right she could see a group of what could have been people huddled around something.

Walking carefully towards the group, she saw the most welcome sight she could think of. Immediately she broke into a run, eating the distance between them like it was nothing. One of the figures turned around at the sounds of life, then all of them. Ryo stepped forward a little, not believing his eyes for a moment.

"Rika!"


	5. Calling

s/k: ok, re-posting is coming along pretty good. Remember in the first chapter when I mentioned Ryo had a friend named Raine? (pronounced 'rane') I have an idea for a whole story revolving around them when Ryo was still wandering the digital world, or maybe one when they're the same age as they are now. . . anywho, thoughts on that?

. . . .

Ch. 5

Jeri awoke to the still harshly unfamiliar lines and cold of the dark cell, completely alone. She remembered some vague glimpses of a dream, she had pulled aside a curtain, but it was a stone curtain, and Rika had need help . . . "R-Rika? Are you there" She asked shakily. As she raised herself to crawl over to where her friend last lay, her body screamed in protest. Tensing her arms and legs she tried to stay on all fours, it was as if she'd done something to make all her muscles tight, stiff, completely the opposite of their normal operation. She collapsed to the floor with a gasp of pain.

_Rika's not here. . . Rika's not here. . ._ The thought ran through her mind over and over until another bit of reason was found. _Then where is she. . . where is she. . ._

_Jeri. . ._

Her name slipped into the sonata of silence.

_Jeri. . ._

Was it something actually real?

_Jeri. . . !_

It almost sounded as if Takato were saying her name.

"Jeri!"

"She can't hear us."

They were saying her name, someone was trying to talk to her. _Why can't I think. . . _

"Rika? Where are you? I can't see you." She whispered, "Takato?" 

"In your pocket, pull out your D-arc."

Jeri saw the wall not far to her right; she made her way painfully over to it and sat up slowly, bracing her back against the cold stone. She pulled her yellow D-arc out of her dress pocket, the chain running from her wrists to the floor seemed so much heavier then before. Like Rika's, a 3-D image was there, with a group of people clustered in the middle. "Takato! Suzi! Ryo! Henry! Rika! Kenta! Kazu" She could have cried with relief at seeing them together and all right. Rika's hands hung limply at her sides, and over top of her black T-shirt she now wore Ryo's red sweater.

"Jeri" Takato started"we don't know where you are, can you get out the same way Rika did; under the grate"

Jeri nodded and tried to stand up, once again her body complained by sending streaks of pain through her. The D-arc clattered to the ground, followed by its owner as her knees buckled, the now enormously heavy load of the chains too much. "Takato," She mumbled, I can't even stand. . ."

. . . .

The sun was shining brightly in the digital world, and the colours seemed so vivid; the complete opposite of the dark ocean. Under the cool shade of a tall green tree, a group of digimon sat, munching on various foods.

As if a wave had passed over them, a little bit of the brightness left, a little bit of the vivid colours drained away. Instantly, the wind changed direction, now blowing the same way as the invisible wave that had passed over them.

"Hey!" Renamon hailed the red dinosaur calmly"Guilmon, stop. Something's wrong."

Guilmon stopped, turning from his pile of food he said in his innocent voice "The only thing that's wring is that my tummy isn't full."

"No, Renamon's right." Calumon agreed"I felt it a minute ago, like a little black cloud in a sunny day." His voice was a little less baby-ish, the tone was different. Maybe more serious.

Guardromon nodded his agreement. "I don't know about you guys, but I have an incredibly strong need to go see my Tamer. Now."

The others nodded, agreeing silently.

"Well then. What are we waiting for? It's been months guys, and almost 5 years since we've really had this kind of urge to see them." Terriermon blinked, then continued. "There's a new portal on the other side of the hill, not too far from here."

Without so much as a nod the group set off, even Guilmon abandoned the food willingly.

"What do you mean there's only one" A voice outside Jeri's cell growled, it was as deadly as a freshly sharpened dagger in the hands of a murderer.

"I went to feed them, and only one was there. The yellow Tamer, talking to a place on the ground." The creature pleading had rusty red skin, several arm-like appendages and a dragonish head and body; it's name was Landersmon. "I was cautious! I don't know how the Blue Tamer escaped, the chains are still there, perhaps she was too small for them?"

"And why should I believe you? You've let one of my prisoners escape, and this is not the first time you have blundered. Perhaps I should throw you out, I've heard rumors that the other Tamers have arrived. I could give you to them. . ."

"No! No We can still get many things from the yellow Tamer! I have worth in this situation" A distinct note of panic trilled through Landersmons' voice as he tried to save himself from what would undoubtedly happen were he to face the tamers alone.

"Perhaps, but you're still practically useless." He spat. "You disgust me." He left then, leaving the twisted creature to ponder it's fate.

"Rika! I'm so glad you're safe" Before he could stop to consider what he was doing, Ryo stepped forward and hugged her tightly. Rika went stiff as a board when she realized what was happening, relaxing a hair after a minute. She was hurt, scared, tired, her head hurt she couldn't think straight . . . Just before drifting off into blissful darkness, she muttered Ryo's name.

"Wha" He caught her as her lags gave out"Rika"

"We should probably heal her wrists." Henry said quietly, interrupting the moment. "Put her in the water over there.

"This is the Dark Ocean, doesn't that generally mean bad things" Kenta asked, clearly confused.

"Not quite. A digidestined before us came here, her name was Kari Yagami. She defeated the Dark Ocean by somehow neutralizing its water, in the process she nearly killed herself. Now, since her crest was light and this world is dark, the ocean gives aid to those who truly need it. I think we count."

Ryo carried Rika over to the water, set her down and let the surf wash over her arms up to her elbows for several minutes. "I'll take that, sounds like a reasonable theory." He mumbled to himself. It took some time, but eventually her hands moved back into their normal positions and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"She should sleep" Henry said quietly, his little sister nodded. "But we have to do something about Jeri." He glanced at Rika's sleeping form, now in Ryo's lap. "It just doesn't look like they're very forgiving. And Rika is a lot tougher the Jeri ever was, no offense meant."

Takato sat down next to Ryo"Then lets' start thinking of a plan because we can't leave her in there much longer. Not if this is the regular hospitality level."

Kenta nodded his head"You know, it's times like these I miss Marineangemon the most." There were choruses of agreement from everyone. It wasn't quite the same when their closet friends and defense weren't there.


	6. Split

s/k: 'ello! Sorry for the miscommunication in the summary, the writing is done, the whole thing isn't posted ' so it'll be up quick, the waiting for chapters shouldn't take too long. Thanks to my first two reviewers! Freeda Kyes and inu-kag-4evr. Um… any comments on the prequel with Ryo and Raine? Feedback on that'd be nice, but other then that, all's good and happy : )

Ch. 6

Rika had slept heavily through the rest of the day, and awoke to find herself in the same colorless world she had come into from the cell. There had been little change in the group's status accept for the fact that the other Tamers were now all asleep in the sand. Kenta and Takato were snoring softy.

As she rolled over, she accidentally nudged Ryo enough that he woke up, He blinked sleepily, rubbing his eyes a little to help him come fully awake. His normally carefully messy hair was now truly messy, the dark brown sticking up at odd angles. "Morning." He mumbled, propping his head up on his arm.

"Morning." She whispered back, careful not to disturb the others. "How long has everyone been here? How long were we asleep? And since when do you make it your job to sleep right next to me like some kind of guard?" She asked, the last question delivered with a little sarcasm and an arched eyebrow.

Ryo let a snicker of amusement break out. "Who said I'm guarding you? Are you sure that's not just your wishful thinking?" He smirked a bit, then answered her other questions. "You went out like a light hardly a minute after you got here. We explored the area some, then came to the general agreement that the beach was probably the safest place to sleep. You should see the weird stuff they've got in their forests. All sorts of ancient statues dotted around, creep statues. Ah… what else… no headway on Jeri's situation, obviously. It's been a while though – " He checked his watch. " – wow, we've been gone for almost 24 hours."

Rika's eyebrows nearly disappeared into her bangs, "Just _how_ long have we all been sleeping?"

"According to my watch, like 18 hours at least."

Before either of them could say anything else, a muffled sort of yelp came from the other side of Takato and Kenta. They passed a confused look to one another, Ryo propping himself up a little higher to see what was going on. A large, silhouetted figure was hunched over something, or someone, who was fighting madly against it. The larger figure was covered in all sorts of fancy fins, and showed through the blacks and grays as a rusty sort of red. Ryo dropped himself back into the sand, his eyes flicking around restlessly.

"What's wrong! Ryo!" Rika hissed, she couldn't remember ever having seen him so tense.

Instead of answering her right away, he swallowed, then tried to say something; having to stop and swallow again before actually making a sound. "Landersmon. Landersmon's here. That bastard, I can't believe hes still alive!"

"Henry! Lopmon! HEEEELP" Came a scream, it was high and full of terror. It was Suzi. Farther down the beach, a point of light began to grow and swirl.

The entire group of Tamers awoke to utter chaos, somewhere in the background Kazu screamed. Henry grabbed a rock and threw it at Landersmon, but fell short of the target. Rika lunged at the things back, the only part that wasn't protected by limbs. She pounded at whatever part she could reach, it didn't seem to have any effect.

An arm reached up and grabbed Rika's wrist, and much to her dismay, dangled her in front of the strange digimon's nose. "Nice to see you again, Tamer." Grinning, he held her out over the other teens, where she couldn't have hit it with a four foot metal bar. "Ryo! A little help please"

Ryo looked up from dodging around by its feet, his momentary lapse in concentration cost him. Another arm came around, the claws on the large hand aimed directly at his mid section. He abruptly let his legs relax and collapsed to the sand, the edge of the thumb still smacked his face, leaving a red welt and a long thin cut on his cheek. "I'm trying" He shouted back.

"Suzi" Henry cried, he was in a reckless rage completely out of character. Not only was his sister caught, but he couldn't help her because he was pinned to the ground by the digimons thick tail, every time Landersmon re-adjusted his weight, Henry was crushed a little more. The point of light down the beach grew larger.

"Terriormon! W-what's happening" Lopmon had been straggling at the back of the group when a black circle the size of a large rabbit hole appeared in front of her. The other digimon came running, Renamon in the lead with Terriermon hot on her heels.

"It's a portal to the Tamers world but. . . " Terriormon stopped to think, _why would one pop up here? Even if we are looking for one._

"… but what" Renamon asked impatiently.

"It's brand new, like a digi-egg. It needs to grow before we can use it." Before their eyes, the blacks, grays and darks came into focus to form a picture, and still the portal grew. "How can it grow so fast"

As the image inside the black inky substance came into sharp focus, the scene on the beach was played before them.

"Suzi" Lopmon glared at the portal. "If that thing shows what's happening then we need to get there, now! Whether or not it's ready"

Through the portal they could see the rest of the Tamers too. Suzi was dropped by the dragonish digimon, and ran to her brother. Henry looked right at the portal from his vulnerable position, then"Suzi! Point you're D-arc light at that thing! Now! Whatever it is, get rid of it" Ever obedient, Suzi did as told. When the pink ray hit the center of the swirl, it stopped moving, and the digimon were sucked into her D-arc.

Landersmon took advantage of the distraction and grabbed Suzi again. As he turned to run, Ryo reached out and grabbed Rika's hand. Despite Ryo's determination to hang on, he knew his grip was slipping, and the constant motion coming from Rika being swung in the large digimons' hand was not helping. The last the Tamers heard or saw of the quartet was Ryo as he cursed and attempted vainly to hang on; before they disappeared into the darkness of the tree line.

"Suzi" Two voices screamed, one was Henry, left standing by the shoreline. The other was Lopmon, who was watching through the D-arc. Her voice wasn't heard though. Out side in the Dark Ocean, the remaining three Tamers were a wreck. Takato stood frozen to the sand, trying to absorb what he had just witnessed. Henry let his legs go limp, and dropped to the sand. His brain refused to allow him to believe that his sister had just been taken from him by a monster, to recognize that he had failed to protect her. Kenta sat by Kazu., who had been sleeping by Suzi and was trampled by Landersmon, his body was broken, bleeding, bent, bruised, and completely immobile.

For Kenta, that was the last straw; his best friend had just been murdered by a thing, a thing that he and all the other Tamers hadn't been able to stop or even really put a significant dent in. His sobs echoed down the beach and out across the water. He hadn't counted on anything like this, Kazu lay there, dying in front of him, and there was nothing he could do. Still crying, his scattered brain remembered the ocean, healing, in the water. He moved Kazu slowly over to the waters edge, close enough for the surf to wash over his entire body, (except his head).

"Please Kazu, don't die, please." He didn't notice or care about the tears cleaning sand from his face in small rivulets, he was only beginning to realize how cold he was. His fingers were numb, his ears were ringing, he was on his own little island of frozen ice. Softly finding its way through the ice, he felt a warm hand on his shoulder, and turned half expecting to see Takato or Henry; even though some small logical part of his mind told him that they were still too consumed by their own grief to help him.

Instead, he was almost surprised to see a girl about their age standing behind him. She had dark auburn hair and deep, loving almost ruby eyes. A pair of pink clips held her bangs parted to her left, she was wearing a pair of pink flip-flop sandals, white Capri pants, and a collared almost pink shirt. Her whole self seemed to glow with a little more color then the bland scenery serving as her backdrop. 

"I'm sorry Kenta." Her voice was soothing, and it had a quiet understanding of his hurt. "I can't help your friend." Another sob racked Kenta's already shaking body, _Kazu's going to die, he's going to die._ .

"I hope you all learn everything you need to know very, very soon. Meiko knows what she's doing, listen to her, learn your power."

He turned fully around to stare at her"How can I help him? What's my power? Why won't you really help me" The thin boys voice rose to a crescendo, the shout echoing down the sand and across the water differently then his crying had. Hikari winced, as if she knew what would happen next and was powerless to stop it.

"It's life Kenta, you're power is life." With that, Kari Yagami faded out of sight, her head bowed in silent pain. The Tamers were alone on the beach. One last breath entered Kazu's lungs, and then left, taking his life with it.

Inside the D-arc, Guardromon was being deleted, piece-by-piece. "What's happening" Marinangemon cried, petrified.

"One of the powers left us." Terriermon said quietly"It must have been honesty." The others stared at him. "That power was kept inside Kazu, so he must be. . ." He quivered, unable to actually voice his thought.

"You don't really mean. . . " Marineangemons face fell.

"Kazu is dead." The words hit everyone of the digimon contained in Suzi's D-arc like a brick wall. Renamon could feel a cold rage building in her core. She had been programmed just as the Digimon Emporers reign had come to an end, and in her travels she had been to Wellen Gehen, and read the boulder that Ryo had also visited. "The Digimon Emporer better be damn proud of himself now! Do you hear me? Are you happy now"

Guardromon's eyes looked up at her as the vixen howled her anger at a dead tyrant, as she deflated, seeming to let the weight of their situation crush her, he was gone.

. . . .


	7. Subtlety

s/k: Ok, updated! Yeah! This is turning out a LOT darker then it's predecessor, I'm actually most pleased with it. Quick not before it's started. When they're biomerged this is the digimon speaking and this would be the Tamer Now that that's all cleared up, R&R!

Ch. 7

Jeri hadn't been in contact with the group since Takato had asked her about the door and a possible escape. The communication connection had died, and she had been left in the cell without any real source of stimuli, truly alone.

Slowly, she leaned over the bowl that Landersmon had left in the cell after his little spat with Rika. Sniffing it, she decided it didn't smell that bad, kinda like normal porridge, cinnamon and some unknown ingredient. Dipping in a finger, she tasted a bit, _not bad, need's something though_. . . Her mind wandered to her backpack, where the remains of her lunch were. _Apples!_ She thought happily, some small part of her logical mind asking her why she was keeping up a pretense of normalcy, of false happiness. She went over to her pack and grabbed one of the slices, then ripped it into tiny pieces. Casually, she tossed the bits in, and took another taste. It was actually alright, but the already dark cell began to wink and smile at Jeri from all directions, becoming fuzzy, and escorting her to blackness. _What's happening!  
_

As it turned out, for such a large, lumbering digimon, Landersmon was an enduring runner. He had been traveling quickly for what seemed like an eon, and was finally beginning to slow down. Ryo's fingers were cramped and hurting, he knew that he should have fallen off and let go of Rika's wrist ages ago. As he was trying desperately not to think about any of that, he saw Rika glance down at him. _Her shoulder must be ready to pop out. This is completely ludicrous! _As he was thinking this, Rika poked him with her foot.

"Ryo," Her voice was strained, she wouldn't admit it hurt. "you need to get off my arm." He nodded, noticing that she was grinding her teeth. He waited until they were swung up and forward in the seemingly never-ending cycle of Landersmon's running; then let go and clumsily managed to catch the red arm with both hands.

"Better?" He asked as she moved so that both her hands were hanging on as well. She winced when the arm came above her head.

"Better-ish."

They swung in silence, Suzi's squeaking as his grip tightened and loosened becoming the only sounds aside from the digimons even breathing.

After an eternity seeming as long as the first, Landersmon slowed to a stop, circling a small tree like some sort of freak-ish dog. Deciding he was in the right spot, he dumped them all onto the hard, grey imitation grass. Rika knew they should attempt an escape of some sort, but she couldn't even bring herself to wrap a hand around her throbbing right shoulder. Suzi was the only one who even attempted to stand, Landersmon swiped his tail into the backs of her knees, and she didn't try to get up again.

Circling the tree once more, the red monster spotted whatever it was he had been hunting. Grabbing a Tamer in each arm he walked another half a kilometer or so until they reached the base of a small, rocky hill. As he got closer to a patch of tall evergreen trees, Suzi could see what looked like the opening to a cave. Her eyes widened and she fought furiously in the large creature grip. She'd never truly outgrown her fear of the dark, and as long as she could remember she'd been extremely, extremely claustrophobic. "HENRY!"

Landersmon smiled and pushed through a dense section of thicket, shuffling inside. Once inside the roughly hewn out hillside, he shook vigorously, managing to throw Rika, Suzi and Ryo in different directions as he did this.

Ryo hit the rock with his side, his head smacking against the cold stone before he fell to the floor. He now had a cut on his forehead that was bleeding slowly, and any of the resolve he'd had initially to save anybody, including himself, was rapidly diminishing. He heard Rika cough weakly, as if the wind had been knocked out of her; and Suzi crying in a small tucked up ball where she'd fallen.

Landersmon turned to look directly at him, but there was no smug grin as Ryo had been expecting. Instead he picked up Rika and Suzi again, neither making a huge protest, and continued towards a much better lit hallway that had been properly set with blocks of carved stone.

Ryo had to bite back a cry of frustration that this digimon was still going. Hauling himself off the ground, he fell into pace a ways behind the creature that he'd tried so hard to forget about. Who either didn't notice he was there or chose to ignore him. Rika twisted enough to look at Suzi, who looked back and didn't say any out loud, but whose eyes spoke of her terror silently,

They reached a spacious cell complete with iron bars and a grated door. Landermon stopped, opened the heavy iron door, and threw in the two girls. Jeri still lay by the bowl of mush, looking for the world as if she had died. Now, its task done, he turned his slanted, snake-ish red eyes to Ryo. "You followed, why?" The gruff, gravely voice sounded – not innocent - but curious. There was no doubt that Ryo was remembered, and the Tamer was both stunned and terrified that his enemy would stand less then 15 feet away and ask him a question, with seemingly no violent intent.

"I. . ." Ryo swallowed and glanced at Rika. "I came to stop whatever it is you're doing here. I'm came for them." He nodded his head at the three in the cell.

"Ryo, you don't need to do this." Rika brought herself up to stand, leaning against the bars. "Get the hell out of here." She tried to look like she was angry he'd come, it came out as more of a 'what do you think you're doing? Leave! Please!' he tried to ignore her eyes. "Find them." She didn't need to specify who.

"He won't be going anywhere to tell anyone anything." A higher, threatening voice growled from the dark recesses of the cell. A new digimon stepped forward and almost laughed. "You came here to help the other Tamers escape. You can word it as 'honorably' or however else you like, but no matter what the fact that your entire species is a worthless pack of exceptional liars will not do you any good."

Ryo wasn't entirely sure what to make of this digimon, nor was he even sure it was a digimon. Unlike the open hostility and power Landersmon gave off, this creature was infinitely more subtle, comparable to an assassin. It was smaller then the rusty-red minion, more cat-like, more dangerous. The thing was mostly shaped like a mongoose, its fur a shifting black that gave absolutely no reflection of light. The tail was swishing idly, it was more like a foxes, the tip snow-white by contrast to the light-consuming black.

It smirked and took a few steps toward Rika, Suzi, and Jeri; close enough that Ryo visibly tensed. Now that it was sure all attention was focused completely, it roughly grabbed Rika's left forearm. Jostling her until despite her best efforts, there were tears forming in her eyes and her tongue was bleeding she'd bitten it so hard to avoid crying out. "Are you having fun, human?"

"Stop it!" Ryo yelled, his hands snapping into fists, shoulders hunching slightly. He could feel his nails biting into his palm, the pain was a welcomed call for him to do something.

Its smirk grew into a ruthless line across the dark-furred face. Snapping its arm, Rika was literally sent flying into the flat stone wall of the cell. She tried to roll over, then didn't move. This seemed to snap Landersmon out of whatever kind of trance he'd been in. He whipped his tail around and caught Ryo's stomach, blowing the boy into the bars of the cell so hard he saw stars and had trouble breathing. As he began to collapse, its sleek, strong arm slid over his throat.

"Ryo!" Rika hissed, anger built up in her, forming a lump in her throat. "Don't, touch him!" She snapped a little louder at the black creature. It turned its head and smiled at the red blood collecting at the corner of her lips to fall drop by drop onto the dirty floor.

Suzi was trembling as she stood up and took a place between the conniving weasel-like digimon and Jeri. "You must need a hearing aid. Leave him alone!" She didn't move when it rotated its whole body to face her, but she wrapped her small, dirt-covered fingers around her D-arc, letting it find its way out of her pocket. He was very aware of how vulnerable they all were without their partners, just as they were.

The smile it had given Rika returned to a knowing smirk. "What are you going to do with that, Tamer? Point it at me? We are all aware that your trained rabbit isn't here." Behind her, Suzi could feel Jeri's D-arc beside her right foot. Not taking her eyes off her opponent, she bent slowly and picked it up in her other hand. Now she could feel them trying to pull together, as if they were incredibly strong magnets, they over-ruled the strength in her arms and connected with a click.

It raised a hardly visibly eyebrow, then asked in a low, sarcastic voice: "Should I be afraid, Tamer?"

( & )

Inside Suzi's D-arc, the colors around the digimon swirled from just pink, to both pink and yellow.

"Something's happening," Monodrmon stated, "and I have a feeling it involves us." None of them were prepared for what happened next, Monodramon, Renamon, Lopmon, and Calumon seemed to delete before the others eyes.

Marineangemon was stunned, tears of panic beginning to form in his eyes. "I don't understand. . ."

( & )

Renamon, Monodramon, Lopmon and Calumon were basically created as their data arranged itself to make a physical form in the Dark Ocean.

"Renamon?" Rika asked, she propped herself up on her arms and drew her legs under her.

"Monodramon!" Ryo gasped, from the corners of his eyes he saw his partner bristle as he registered his Tamers position and Landersmons presence.

"Lopmon." Suzi stated, completely stunned.

There was no call for Calumon, who worriedly scanned his changed surroundings. When he spotted Jeri he ran over to her, calling her name quietly, trying to wake her.

Rika got over her surprise quickly, she knew that they had to attack now, while everything was still chaotic. Ignoring everything else she reached for her D-arc. "Renamon, biomerge!"

"With pleasure." Her partner said back. Once they were merged, they turned in unison to face this new, un-introduced opponent. _**Nice to see you again Rika.** You too, Renamon, you too._

Ryo reacted right after Rika, had it been a second later and the strong arm would have cut him off. "Monodramon, biomerge!" He called, his D-arc reacting from its place clipped on his belt. They were joined at a midpoint between their original places, no longer inhibited or trapped by the threatening black creature.

In the middle of the cell, Sokoyumon and Justimon stood side by side, ready to do battle. For a split second Rika fancied she was back inside the D-reaper, she shook her head to clear her mind. _These are two completely different circumstances. This guy's a conscious force of malicious intent, the D-reaper was just a program!_

If either of them had been paying attention, they would have noticed like Suzi did that Landersmon's eyes had started to change colour as he watched Sokoyumon take up her traditional stance before a fight. Beneath her mask, her eyes narrowed. In complete unison, she and Justimon leaped at their opponent from opposing sides; only Justimons blow made contact.,

The cell image dissolved around Sokoyumon, she was somewhere completely black, there was no gravity, no feeling, no . . . anything. . . "Justimon! Suzi!" She called, no one came. It was as if she had been forgotten in an empty black waste land. A wasteland where nothing existed, and no one cared if she was recovered.

"Sokoyumon!" Justimon cried in shock, she had collapsed in the middle of her attack on the black digimon, he spun away from his opponent and turned to face it head on, watching both Landersmon and his current adversary.

"You can't get her now, remember the little friend you were with?" Landersmon let out a soft laugh until Lopmon attacked it head on, not bothering to digivolve or even consider it.

"You give them back!" Suzi screamed, her small frame tense, her ruby-brown eye flashing dangerously.

Justimon was momentarily lost between finding a way through the bars to help Lopmon, and looking after his unknown antagonist. This was fixed when he was whirled them around to face the creature. "I don't think so, you've got your plate quite full already. Tamer"

"Justimon glared at it. "Where did you put them?" He didn't raise his voice at all, the tone was even, and calm.

"Like my partner said, remember your friend. . . ?" The emotions that comment dredged up were violent, painful, and doubled now that it was happening in front of him again. With a roar Justimon lunged, and Landersmon simply held Lopmon by her ears to watch this new form of entertainment.


	8. Valour

s/k: Ok, **can anyone give me accurate information on Ryo's digimon partner and his evolutions? **I've scoured the internet and gotten at least three different sets of possibilities. It's frustrating, to say the least. That and a quick thanks to Forlorn Melody who corrected me on the colour of Ryo's D-arc, it's always appreciated when you guys review!

Ch. 8

Rika and Renamon had split into their separate forms, and were floating aimlessly in the black void

"Sokoyamon!" A voice echoed faintly. Rika twisted in the blackness to see who it was, not really expecting to see anything. Images began to flash all around the pair, mostly happy memories Rika had of the Tamers. One of the pictures kept coming back; it was one that Henry had on the digital camera he'd been given for his birthday. For the next 3 months he'd been on a practical rampage working on photo composition, lighting, anything he could weasel out of the photography teacher on the second floor. For three weeks he'd done nothing but composition, and had been using Takato, Jeri, Rika, Ryo and Suzi. He even used Kazu once in a while. But the picture that kept appearing was of Rika and Ryo.

Under the large, shady tree that Ryo and Takato had been eating lunch under was where the pair were standing. Rika wrapped in Ryo's jacket and arms. He had a small smile decorating his features, and Rika had her head tucked under his chin, her hair lifting slightly in the wind. It was one of the pictures Henry had carried on about for ages once he'd gotten it printed in sepia.

It was while Rika's thoughts were distracted that her partner disappeared, and that Landersmon let part of his consciousness slip inside her own; because that's where she was, inside her mind.

"You know," He said quietly, making himself a part of the darkness that smothered the girl. "I don't think it will make a difference whether you're there or not."

Rika raised her eyebrows. "You're going to try playing mind games with me?" A small smirk rose to accompany her new expression of… almost amusement.

The essence of Landersmon grinned back. "Why should I not at least try? What makes you so sure that I'm not telling the truth, that I am indeed playing games?" He paused to let the different ideas slip into her conscious thought and stir restlessly. "The silver Tamer himself admitted that it was easier to fight if you were out of the way."

She paused for a second, her mind turning over 'silver Tamer', she decided that the 'silver' part must be referring to Ryo because of the colors on his D-arc. Landersmon grinned evilly as he felt her figure it out. "None of them need you, it's not like you're the elite of the group, if anything that's the silver Tamers role to play. Never yours, he supports the others, you shoot them down. He watches out for them, you look out for yourself. He - "

Rika knew that some of what he said had a kernel of truth to it; she knew that other things he was saying were simply there to make the list seem long. Overall she decided she was doing an excellent job of ignoring him. Eventually, he also noticed her ignoring him. Aggravated, he mentioned something he knew she would not leave alone.

"He remains loyal to the group, you never considered such a thing important. He would never abandon the group, you would leave them the moment it would benefit yourself – "

"You're wrong." Rika said quietly, her eyes betraying her, whispering silently that that comment at least, had hit home. "No one should be abandoned, under any circumstances." She glared at the monstrosity smothering her in blackness. For a moment she felt like a small child trying to prove she was right to a parent, or some other adult that could have cared less, remembering just how much less her father had appeared to care when he'd left. _I'm not 4, and this isn't some stupid argument over who ate the last cookie._

"It could be considered an old fashioned concept, but I'm completely loyal to all of them." She looked left and right in her dark expanse of nothing, as if hunting for some physical evidence that Landersmon was really there. When he appeared in front of her, also seeming to float weightless, he was pleased to see that the spark of he'd been aiming for had lit. She was going to fight back.

( & )

Justimon rolled to the side, barely missing the Master's foot as it came crashing down on the floor where his head had been only a moment ago. _Sokoyamon, where are you!_

"Justimon!" Suzi yelled over the noise that accompanied any battle.

"What?" Justimon growled, trying to pay attention and get out of the way at the same time. They moved to the left trying to dodge another attack, but they were too slow. The blow sent Justimon sailing into the wall; completely out of the pair's control, they split into Cyberdramon and Ryo, then Cyberdramon de-digivolved again to Monodramon. Ryo groaned, he was generally in one piece, a few bruises starting to blossom on his arms from the fight.

The black digimon advanced, showing its pleasure at their situation with a broad smirk. "I knew you couldn't win!" He kicked Ryo over onto his side, breaking a rib in the process.

"Ah!" Ryo gasped, it was like someone had driven a knife into his side. "Rika…" He muttered gritting his teeth, it hurt so much. _Don't cry! Don't cry! _He thought desperately. _That would just put the icing on his cake! _Despite himself, the figure above him blurred.

"She can't help you," It said quietly, it seemed to echo in the otherwise silent cell. "She couldn't help you if she wanted to!" The sleek digimon laughed, knowing that its statement had left a gaping hole in Ryo's mind.

( & )

Rika tilted her chin a little, challenging Landersmon openly. Her entire self began to radiate a bright indigo glow.

Landersmon knew what would happen next, so he set out avoiding the inevitable, first by taking away his image and fading into the blackness again. Despite this, he could still feel her subconscious hunting him. "You won't be able to find me…" He declared, making his voice come from several points all around the red-haired Tamer.

"…and you can't keep me here forever. Why don't you just stop hiding and face me instead?"

The hunters she had no idea she'd sent out in her consciousness doubled their efforts, showing her frustration with her opponent. He knew it wouldn't be too much longer until he was found and probably violently forced from her mind.

Bored with his game now, Landersmon let himself be found, and pushed out. He appeared through the black to Rika's left, she turned to watch him as he was deleted, much too both beings surprise. "How can you do this? You don't even know what your power is and you can use it against me." He stated calmly. "It's not possible, but here you are doing it. I didn't think it'd be taken this far."

"Well, it's technically impossible for the bumblebee to fly, it doesn't seem to care," She smiled, wondering why he wasn't putting up a fight if he knew he was being deleted.

As the last of the strange red dragon-ish digimon was deleted, Rika felt herself being released back into her body, and the heavy push of gravity, feeling much stronger then it should have.

( & )

"Why are you doing this!" Suzi screamed, tears of fear sliding unchecked down her cheeks. "We didn't do anything to you!" For a child in fourth grade, Suzi was taking everything around her very well, and proving she was a Tamer.

"Oh, how sweet. Standing up for your friends' boyfriend, I'm touched!" It snarled, and left Ryo to go torment this new prey that had caught its attention.

"Hey!" Ryo shouted from his corner, despite his current state, he was still trying vainly to keep its attention away from the others. "I thought you were going to finish me off!" He had managed to stand, with the help of the wall he'd just been thrown through.

"You're no longer a threat, Tamer." The black digimon spat the last word contemptuously, making Ryo feel just as helpless as he knew he was. "You've three broken ribs, another cracked, a fractured elbow, a twisted ankle, a broken shin, numerous bruises, cuts and lacerations, a whopping of internal damage and to top it off a black eye that must have done you brain damage because you're still after me. What kind of a threat is a Tamer that can hardly stand?" He turned back to Suzi, "Now, where were we? Oh, I remember." he picked up the small girl by her left wrist and snatched the D-arcs from her.

Ryo's mind was chasing its tail in endless circles, _what can I do?_ He looked at his own D-arc loosely in his hand. "Monodramon?" He whispered.

"Yes?"

"We've gotta try and biomerge again." He turned his dirt streaked face to look at his partner.

"We can try, but I don't think it'll work." Monodramon muttered. He knew it wouldn't work, neither of them had anywhere near enough energy to concentrate properly, and Ryo was just shy of beaten to a pulp.

"All right, biomerge!" Ryo tried to stand tall, and hit the ground instead, D-arc flying from his grasp and skittering across the floor. "Ah!" he yelped, curling around himself, trying not to breathe hard or put any pressure on his chest. He wasn't going anywhere. _Rika… _

( & )

Rika was no longer floating aimlessly in the black void from before, and she could feel herself uncncious in her body, but frankly, she was bored. There wasn't anything she could do here, the others could be in a huge amount of trouble, and there she was, unable to raise a finger.

A point of red light started glowing in front of her, at first she dismissed it as her mind playing tricks on her, but once it was roughly the size of her fist, she couldn't really ignore it any longer as a hallucination. Hesitantly, she reached out mentally and brushed it with her fingers, her world flipped over in a 3.60. She landed on a cold stone floor flat on her back.

"Ouch!" She muttered, her head was throbbing from the impact. She was back inside the cell where they'd been brought by Landersmon. Sitting up, she immediately noticed that the cell was almost completely destroyed. Whole sections of brick looked as if they'd been hit hard enough that they'd fallen out of their places, exposing the bare dirt on the other side. The bars of the door were twisted and warped, but Landersmon was no longer holding Lopmon, he was no where in sight. She felt a brief moment of satisfaction before another thought all together hit her: _Where's Ryo?_

She whipped around, ignoring her pounding headache as best she could and stood up. She turned her eyes to the back corner of the cell and saw Suzi fly into Jeri, waking the unconscious girl with a shout of terror.

Seeing Rika, it laughed, then turned and left the cell, calling: "You can't help them Tamer! They're beyond your care!"

Rika got up and scrambled over to Ryo, he looked about dead, Monodramon no better. "Ryo? Ryo it's Rika, can you hear me?" Her voice broke, telling her just how scared she was. He didn't respond. "Damnit Akiyama!"

Her D-arc started beeping, breaking the silence that hung over the cell. "Stupid thing!"

"Rika?" A voice crackled. "We've followed your D-arcs signals, and they match up but you not here. If you're getting this, please respond." She recognized the voice, it was Takato.

"We're underground, look for a hole in the rock!" She ended the communication and brutally drove her clenched fist into the wall, trying vainly to vent her frustration. _He's breathing, at least he's breathing… _she told herself. Forcefully, she transferred her attention to the two others, both sitting silently staring at her on the other side of the cell.

"Suzi?" She asked quietly. "You don't need to say anything, but you should put on this sweater, okey?" The small girl stood up slowly, crossing the distance to Rika and letting the older girl tug the maroon sweater Ryo had given Rika earlier over her head. "There you go. You can stay with Jeri over there if you want." Rika let her eyes fall to the blood and dirt smeared floor stones. There had obviously been quite a battle. She was furious at Landersmon and herself for missing it, she felt responsible for the others injuries.

Suzi pattered away to sit by Jeri again, the four plainly divided. Rika ignored the sick feeling in her core, concentrating harder on the stones in front of her. Beside her, she could feel Ryo stir a little, he tried to cough and she turned him on his side. She knew very, very little about life-saving anything, but choking on your own blood was something she'd learned of herself.

He finished coughing, starting to breath with more command of himself, although the air passing in and out of him gave a rattling, ragged sound. Ryo looked up to see who was supporting his back, helping him to stay on his side. "Rika. . .?" He was certain he was delusional, how could Rika have come back, where Raina had not? His vision swam, he was dizzy from loss of blood, and everything hurt.

She moved a hand to rest on his side, only to whip is back like some sort of snake was waiting when he cried out. "Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" She panicked a little, backing away, accidentally backing his support away too. He rolled back onto his back, head hitting the floor with a quiet smack. He closed his eyes tightly, faced pulled taunt as he tried not to make a sound.

Rika narrowed her eyes. "You're being stupid now, it hurts, so admit it and stop trying to play the chivalrous knight, immune to pain." She had started as if she was going to lecture him, but she finished softly, almost chiding him.

Footsteps echoed down the stone hall outside the cell, followed by voices all of the battered Tamers recognized. "Hello? Rika? Jeri?" Takato called nervously.

"Suzi? Rika?" Henry added his voice too.

"Guys, it's gotten very, very quiet in there…" Kenta cautioned, the first words he'd spoken since the beach.

"We're down here!" Jeri cried, standing up unsteadily and running out of the cell to Takato. He pulled her into a tight hug, feeling her tears soak through his thin blue hoodie.

"Shhh, it's ok Jeri, I'm here, we're here. It's ok…"

Suzi was only a split second behind Jeri, almost tripping on the long sleeves of Ryos sweater she threw herself at her older brother. Henry caught her up in a hug to rival a bears, she was not leaving his sight in this world again.

Inside the cell, Ryo opened his eye a little, and put a small shadow of his trademark smirk on. "I'm not immune to pain, or something dumb like that. Just a little reckless, that's all." He relaxed, passing out properly as his body settled closer to her. Rika bowed her head, scared, tired… the others would see her in a minute, and they'd know what to do. Henry always had a plan.

Kenta gasped as he came around the corner into the cell and saw the destruction. A lump rose into his throat, cutting off any chance of spoken words. When his eyes finally settled on the only two people remaining in the cell, he wandered quietly over and sat by Rika.

Henry stepped forward and came carefully through the door, still carrying Suzi in a kind of forward piggy-back. Takato and Jeri followed, Jeri tightly gripping her boyfriends hand in boy her own. They stood in a quiet group just inside the twisted and dented remains of the door. Henry finally breaking the silence.

"I think we need to go."

Everyone stared at him, his simple statement forcing someone to answer. "How do you plan on moving Ryo?" Rika asked quietly through gritted teeth, vying not to let her voice waver at all.

"We can use the new cards, I'm pretty sure that so long as we're all physically connected it'll transport everyone." He turned enough to make eye contact with Takato and nod his head towards Rika, Kenta and Ryo in a sort of 'come on' gesture. The pair trailed behind him as he picked his way around a few large chunks of rock and other debris. They assembled around Ryo, and one-by-one turned their heads towards Henry. When everyone looked ready, he swiped the yellow card. "The ocean front!"


	9. Broken

Ch. 9

The Tamers appeared on the beaches slanted shifting surface with quiet 'thuds' as they hit the sand. Takato caught Jeri as she passed out from exhaustion, Henry and Rika striving to protect Ryo's head from any sort of impact. Exchanging a look, they carefully picked him up and moved him the last few meters towards the cool water.

"Hey, Rika?" Henry asked quietly as they maneuvered the injured boy so that only his head and shoulders remained out of the ocean.

She glanced up at him, watching the surf wash over the silver Tamer in a slow pattern. It was relaxing to be next to it after being inside the cave. "Yeah?"

"Are you alright too? You're the only one who seems to have escaped without a scratch on you, and… I was really, really worried." He finished quietly, eyes turned downwards at the dark, wet sand.

_What is he implying? That I didn't do anything? That I let this happen to Ryo?! _"I don't know what happened, I was busy with Landersmon in… somewhere." She ground her teeth together, aggravated. "I'm not responsible for what he gets himself into!" She froze, _I didn't just say that… he was right… I can't believe it… Ryo came after _me_… he was right…_

Henrys facial expression changed, impossible to read, but changing. "You're not supposed to look after him, it's ok." He paused. "Well, I'm glad you came out unhurt, and I'm sure Ryo's thrilled to have someone like you looking after him."

Rika stared at her friend, _what's that supposed to mean? I… failed… I messed up… it's my fault he's like this… _As Rika tormented herself, Henry leaned forward kissed he lips lightly, like some sort of phantom. It didn't register for a second, then Rika's eyes snapped up to look at him. Confused, angry at being confused. _What's going on… ?!_ He stood up, and walked calmly over to the others, acting like nothing had happened, callous, above it all.

Ryo's mind drifted conscious as Henry leaned forward over him and brushed Rika's lips with his own, he saw Rika's reaction, a confused look, eyes flicking everywhere. He spiraled downwards within himself; _that bastard! He knows I care for her! He knows I like her! What's he thinking? _Then his thoughts shifted, _she didn't stop him, she… didn't care…_

---

Ryo woke up properly about an hour and a half later, and was content for about three seconds before he remembered what had happened. He was about to groan when he caught himself, if any of the others were nearby they'd hear, and he'd have to face them. He didn't think he could do that yet; he just couldn't conceal his emotions over what he'd seen.

Slowly, he opened his eyes. "Hey." A voice said softly, glancing at the figure beside him, he recognized Rika. She was crunched in a ball, running her fingers through her long reddish-brown hair which had been let down from its usual ponytail.

"Oh, it's you." Ryo replied coolly, he'd tried to sound nice, happy even; he just couldn't.

"You okey? Well other then the being smashed to a pulp thing, I mean." Rika smiled, it looked like she hadn't slept properly for a week. About 48 hours in reality.

"Yes, I'm fine." He knew it was a lie, one of the few he'd ever told. Probably one of the biggest too, he'd never felt so low.

"That's good." The pair stayed on the beach in silence; the only sound coming from Ryo's still slightly labored breathing. _There's something different about him,_ she thought, _something about his eyes, they're not happy anymore. That's it, no matter the situation they were always betraying how much he loved a challenge, now… I don't know…_

"Rika?" Suzi said as she approached the two silhouetted teens, "Henry wants me to get you, he said something about where you'd gone in the cell when Landersmon got you. Jeri told him what she knew."

"Kay," the older girl replied calmly, "I'm coming." She glanced at Ryo. "Are you alright on your own?"

"You don't need to nanny me Rika, I'll be fine. Go see Henry." He'd practically growled the last bit.

Rika froze in mid-rise, and stared at Ryo, completely stunned. "A-are you sure you're ok? You sound seriously pissed at either me or Henry."

"Just go see what wiz-kid wants."

Rika finished standing, and then ran through her memory. What could have Henry done to make Ryo so mad? Well, there was the whole kissing incident, but she wasn't even sure that was real anymore. The trip was finished before she even noticed; Suzi left as soon as she showed Rika the clearing Henry was waiting in.

"Hello? Earth to Rika?" He waved his hand in front of her face, smiling a little as he watched her features change from pensive to her normal state of sarcasm.

"Yes." She sighed, "I'm on the same planet as you Henry, now what is it?"

The black/blue haired boy suddenly looked nervous, and swallowed. "Rika, I – I know you probably don't care about me any more then Takato, or Ryo, or… well, hopefully more then Kazu, but I love being around you, seeing you at school, and I - if it's ok, I mean – I was hoping maybe, we could… be more then friends." He whispered the last few words, forcing Rika to lean forward to hear him.

She just looked at him, her hair still down, nose hardly 3 inches from his from trying to hear what he was saying. She straightened, looking at him incredulously. "Did you actually just say what I thought you did?"

He was expecting a smart remark to some now, descending on him like some sort of swarm of killer bees. _Truly it is words, and not the pen, that are mightier then the sword. _Downcast, he broke eye contact with her. "Yes."

"Henry… I…" Rika knew that if she actually said anything she was thinking, she'd probably crush him. She wasn't prepared for what was going to happen if she didn't say anything.

He looked up sharply, mistaking her incoherence for elated happiness instead of extreme turmoil. "That's… that's great!" He smiled. Her features didn't flinch from their astonished expression, _how is this great? How am I _not_ going to completely trample - _He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, until he could feel her up against him. He craned his neck forward, and kissed her again. He was gentle, and not noticing that there was no response from Rika, grinned a bit and got bolder.

It was then that Rika managed to pull herself out of the fog clouding her thoughts. She firmly placed her palms on his shoulders and pushed. His head pulled back, their lips parted, and she looked him straight in the eye. "Lee Jenrya, do not ever do that again."

"Rika? Henry?"

"Takato!" Henry gasped, partly from being spied on, mostly because he'd just been completely shocked by Rika.

"Henry! How could you do this?!" Takato cried, "Why? That is so low Jenrya! Lee you jerk!" His face paled in direct relation to his astonishment.

Rika took this moment to step in, saying quite firmly: "Takato, stop yelling! This is _not_ whatever you first thought this is, do you hear me Lee?" She growled, turning her head back to him and drive her point home. "This is some sort of huge misunderstanding!"

She stepped backwards, trying to free herself from Henry's tight grip. He didn't realize what was going on, and failed to let go fast enough. Both Tamers hit the ground with a 'thud'. Henry turned bright red and rolled off Rika, extending a hand to help her up. "Sorry." He mumbled.

"Don't touch me Lee!" She hissed quietly, stood without his help, and stalked off deeper into the grey forest. Takato turned, confused and mad with worry about Ryo, starting back towards the beach at a slow trot. _What am I supposed to tell him? I stalked them into the woods and probably got Henry furious at me, but broke them up? I am such a jerk! Ryo… why did he do that? Lee you moron! _

Henry was left alone in the clearing. _Why'd he have to interfere!? Why'd she leave…? Why… everything…_

---

s/k: I know, a short and… well, I suppose maybe dynamic chapter? I'd apologize to Jenruki fans, but really, I never liked that coupling. I've seen it done well once or twice, but Ryo! Ryo guys! Anyway, R&R, hopefully the next chapter will be up soon (also short)

P.S. with the whole calling Henry by three different names (his Japanese name…) I was trying to show how mad she was by what she was calling him. Hope that didn't confuse anyone too much….

P.P.S. Forlorn Melody (and anyone else who's curious), some of (ok, most off) the theory behind Ken's connection to that black thing and the dark ocean is in An Angels Wings. It's also been revised, so you're welcome to read that (no need to review or anything).


	10. Grey

Ch. 10

"You're sure?" Came the almost hoarse whispered. He'd hoped so much that it had all just been a dream.

"Yeah." He bowed his head. "Rika looked pretty freaked out by the whole thing." The two boys were sitting quietly by the surf, Takato cross legged and Ryo still partially emerged in the water, both the utter picture of defeat. Monodramon hoped down the embankment from the tree line and dropped himself in beside his Tamer silently.

"Takato?" Jeri asked quietly, Calumon trailing behind her as she went over to sit beside her boyfriend, joining the conversation instead of just observing. "Which way did Rika go?"

He looked up at her. "That way-ish." He responded, motioning his hand towards the trees in general. So very helpful of him, you know, giving her directions and everything.

"Ryo," She announced, "I think you need to go after her." She leveled one of the most serious looks she could muster at him, watching his azure gaze flick around over her face as he tried to make the decision.

_Not now… _his mind whispered, _she doesn't want me now, she doesn't want anyone now… _She glared at him this time. "What do you want from me Jeri? It's not me she wants around, and I'm not going anywhere." He stood, aggravated at everyone. Suzi made as if to ask him a question, starting to rise from her little spot farther up the shore where Lopmon had stationed herself. Ignoring her, he pulled himself up the embankment and started limping towards the tree line. _Jerks._

( & )

15 minutes later, Rika wandered out of the woods, her temper slightly pacified by the walk and various odd stone carvings scattered throughout the grey forest. She hadn't paid attention to where she'd been going, and only now, as she realized that she had no idea where she was, started to think rationally again. A very long, open stretch of sand away was a lighthouse, and behind her a set of brick steps complete with aluminum railings were set into the ground. She shook her head, _this is such a random world, there's no order to it. _

The ocean was calm, a few ripples she decided must be made by some sort of fish swirling maybe 10 meters from the surf. The lighthouse finished one of its slow rotations, momentarily winking its black light at her. _It's chilling, but it's so isolated, almost nice in its own way. _She couldn't have known that this was how Ken Ichijouji had first viewed the world he'd stumbled upon, isolated, quiet, and beautiful in its own way.

"Rika?" A voice behind her called, it effectively shattering her bubble of quiet, shattering her oasis in the dark.

She glowered, not wanting anything to do with him at the moment, and at the same time quashing the small part of her that whispered: _but, would you listen to anyone else now? _Without turning, she answered him. "I suppose you're here to try and cheer me up, right?" She snorted. "Exactly what I was looking forward to. Leave, Akiyama."

Ryo felt like he'd been slapped. _This is what Jeri wanted? This is why I came after her, to be neatly sliced and put on the side of the plate? _He didn't let himself hesitate long, continuing towards the figure standing near the water, using the cool railing to help himself down the stairs. "I'm not going anywhere." He said calmly, limping over to where she was standing and letting himself collapse onto the sand. "I think – "

"I don't care what you think." Rika almost snarled at him.

Ryo waited until he was sure she wasn't going to say anything else before he spoke. "I think you do care, and I think that you need to calm down and look at things reasonably." He ground his teeth at hearing himself say it. "Regardless of how you feel, because you owe myself and the rest of the Tamers at least that much."

There it was again, that 'for the Tamers' idea, _damn Landersmon, he's deleted and I still hear him muttering away in my head! Damn that digimon! _She felt like some sort of trapped animal, Ryo wouldn't be satisfied until she gave him a reason why she was so upset, and really, when she looked at her reason, it had nothing to do with the group; just Lee. Falling back behind the old poker face she'd used so many times in the past, she said quietly: "I don't owe you anything."

Ryo glared at her. "Nonaka, what the hell is your problem? Lee may have gone and made you mad, but the rest of us had nothing to do with it!"

He didn't shout, that was the problem, if he'd yelled she could have yelled back, or if he'd made any sort of move towards her, she could have hit him. No, he'd said it in an almost monotonous voice except for the unmistakable hurt. _Since… when can he… ! _She was furious that he could just sit there, almost apathetic to the situation. Without a word, she drew back her fist and punched his jaw with everything she had.

Surprised, he let out a little sound and ducked, her hand brushing his hair as it flew past. As he straightened up, he looked her. "Why did you do that?"

She narrowed her eyes until they were slits, clenching her fists at her sides. "I felt like it, you're ticking me off." Came the cold answer. They watched each other closely, standing there on the grey beach with the cool water hardly reaching their shoes as it rushed up the sand.

Rika was debating whether or not to say something when Ryo completely surprised her. He drew back his fist and clipped her across her jaw. His expression didn't change as her eyes widened and her mouth went slack. "You – just hit me." She managed.

He nodded, dark blue gaze hard. The actual hurt had been incredibly small, the area wouldn't come anywhere close to bruising, it was more the shock that Ryo, her Ryo Akiyama, had raised his hand to her. "I felt like it."

That put her over the edge, she ducked left and turned at the last second, throwing her weight to the right and trying to deliver an uppercut to his chin. He swung his bad leg back out of harms way, using it for balance as he caught her arm and twisted it behind her back, letting her dance forward out of his grasp with her facing away from him. She didn't wait to turn herself to face him, she dropped to the pale sand and whipped her foot around, catching the back of his knee and making the tall boy fall.

The air rushed out of his lungs as he hit the beach, a small grunt accenting it. His arm snapped forwards, snagging her wrist and pulling her off balance. While she was still recovering from falling, he rolled up onto his knees and straddled her, pinning her arms above her head and locking her ankles down with his good leg. Breathing hard, the pair exchanged fierce looks.

"Are you going to actually listen to me now, Rika?" He asked, studying her face. _What happened in the first place, what happened to make her so cold? She's beautiful, and when she wants to be, fun. What hurt her so much?_

The red-head sniffed. "Ha, like you're really giving me a choice." Despite her attempt at sounding cold, her tone only carried slight discontent that he'd beaten her, and the almost-crying stage that came after being emotionally exhausted. He watched her pretty features change smoothly back to the sad, quite state he'd found her in. It tugged at his core to see her giving up like that; under normal circumstances she would have lashed him so thoroughly with verbal abuse that he'd be ready to throw her into the ocean. Her sigh caught him off guard. "If you want to say something, say it."

Ryo let the ghost of a smile tug at his lips. "Thanks." He whispered. "Alright, I know something happened between you and Henry, whatever it was, it was not good." She confirmed his statement with a slight nod. "Honestly, I think I can deal with it should you two decided to throttle each other, or date, s'not really my business." Rika caught his wince as he spoke, almost saying something, then deciding against it. "In either case, it shouldn't affect how you act around the rest of us. So, stop being such a jerk and come back! Jeri's worried sick and Takato is all but convinced you're ready to commit suicide or murder."

She smirked at the last comment. "And you? You're the one who came looking for me… that mean anything?" She asked slowly.

Ryo's eyebrows rose, _is _this_ what Jeri wanted to happen? _"Ahm… perhaps… " He started to answer carefully. "… would you… want it to mean anything?"

"More then - no – ye – no – I'd… like - " She tripped over her words, stuttering slightly and not finishing her sentence properly, her ears were also shading themselves a light pink.

He let the smirk come to his face fully, watching her stumble through a few more almost-words before he interrupted her. "You're cute when you're flustered." Her jaw dropped, and his smirk broadened into a grin. "Tell you what, how about I take you for sushi when we get back. There's a great little restaurant with cheap, _good_ sushi a few blocks from the train station on 12th."

She closed her mouth and smiled crookedly, amethyst eyes softening. "You know what? I think I'd really like that."

He smiled back, letting her sit up before he pulled her to sit in his lap, leaning against his solid chest. "Good," Ryo whispered in her ear, his breath tickling her neck. "Because if you didn't like sushi, I'm not sure what I would have done."

( & )

s/k: oh, look who updated! Look who devoted an entire (er… short) but entire chapter to Ryuki. I think the next chapters start to get longer after this, I keep finding all sorts of random stuff that doesn't make any sense, and I'm really, really going to work on finding a way to keep Henry in character this time -.-'

P.S. Thanks to Keeper of Lost Souls for correcting my amazing brain collapse on Kazu's partner -.-' it's been changed.


	11. Similar

Ch. 11  


"You know," Takato said quietly to Jeri as they walked through the trees bordering the colorless beach. "They've been gone a long time, almost an hour. Don't you think we should go look for them"

His girlfriend shook her head gently"I've found that with these things, it's always best to let people come back to you. That way, it's their choice and it just works to our favor" her dark brown eyes closed. Breathing deeply, the only scent in that dark world reached her nose, burning charcoal.

"Hey, what's that burning smell" Takato asked, looking at Jeri to see if she'd noticed it too. The pair turned their course back towards the beach, aiming for the place where they'd left Kenta and Suzi. The pair were soon in sight, a small flame dancing in front of them. Squeals of surprise and hurt floated from them.

"Kenta! Suzi" Takato shouted, wondering what on earth was going on.

"What" Kenta called back, he sounded more peeved then anything else.

As Jeri and Takato came up to them, they were washed over with a wave of smoke and sparks. "What th"

"We tried to cook some fish we found." Suzi answered flatly, effectively cutting short any questions. "our little genius here managed to incinerate it." Jeri somehow kept a straight face for about ten seconds before collapsing to the sand and roaring with laughter. Suzi being cynical, who wouldn't find that at least a little funny"Well at least someone thinks it's amusing." The small girl grumped. Her gaze flicked over her friends, her brother wasn't with them.

Takato noticed and supplied an answer. "He hasn't come back yet, but don't worry. Anyways, I can barely breathe here, lets go wait for the others out of this smoke"

-

Henry had been wandering aimlessly since the incident with Rika and Takato, when he heard the sounds of laughter floating on the .breeze He followed the elusive sound, only to find Rika and Ryo on the beach. Ryo was sitting with Rika wrapped in his arms on his lap, laughing at things.

"Hey! Remember when Kazu ate so many cinnamon buns he had to stay home from school the next day because he was sick? I'll never forget the look on his face the next time Takato offered him one of those" He laughed, it was so nice that Rika had finally relaxed, even nicer that she had agreed to go camping with him on File Island next time he went.

"Oh, what about when Takato got his head stuck in the banister rails at your place. That was priceless" Rika smiled at the thought.

Henry leaned on a nearby tree for support, _none of the memories have me… kind of… an unpleasant realization… he said something about Ryo… no, I knew about Ryo, how he felt… but this was my fantasy, my dream… I knew her long before he did… he can't know anything… not about her… _He closed his eyes, trying to place himself where Ryo was. Rika laughing, over something stupid one of the others had done. Her weight against him, her hair was down, a little tangled, soft on his chin. The image was abruptly shattered when Ryo laughed so hard he almost choked.

"Oh man, I remember that! I though he was going to spontaneously combust he was so mad!"

_That should be me… _Henry though, _she chose him though… him… _he smirked, feeling his throat close. _Funny how it all works, isn't it…? _A detached smile came to his face; he wanted to laugh at his situation, it seemed so wrong to want to laugh when he hurt so much. He turned away from the couple on the beach, wandering dazedly past the odd stone carvings and through the dead-feeling trees. He didn't know where he was going, he just… went…

It wasn't until he found himself near the entrance to the cave he began to come back to himself. He could feel the hostility around him, it was thicker then molasses, it scared him. He was beginning to wish he had Terriermon with him, a lot.

-

A half hour or so later, Henry had found who he'd been looking most worried about finding, exactly who/what he was _not_ looking for.

"What is this? The green Tamer? You're awfully alone, aren't you…?" The voice kept changing directions, it was behind him, in front of him, whispering in his ear, calling from behind the grey mist that had settled over the forest.

Henry spun around, keeping his weight forward, ready to run. "Why don't you come out?" He cried, head turning, eyes flicking, _where are you… _"Afraid for some reason?"

The black creature slid out from the mist behind the boy, not making a sound until hardly a foot behind him. "Afraid…?"

Henry whipped around, _oh shit… _he cleared his throat nervously, his breathing erratic and shallow. "You're the one… who are you… ?"

The sleek, matte-black creature twisted its lips up into a disturbing smile. "Do you want a name, or a background search" This creature, this being that wasn't quite a digimon or an animal, watched Henry's grey eyes as the boy tried to think straight. _We're similar, this green Tamer and I, he could be an excellent ally, now that Landersmon has been taken care of. _"Amazing, isn't it? How you found me."

Henry felt like he'd been sucker-punched, I _came looking for _him_? I think not! This creature is what killed Kazu! _He glared, it wasn't all that large, maybe a few inches taller then him when it stood on it's hind-paws; and yet… he was curious. "What do you mean?"

"I've taken to calling myself Tueno, and you found me through your emotions, I am empathetic, you called me to you through your discontentment. You found me." The pair stared, the only flare of colour Henry's washed-looking orange vest. Tueno spoke again: "So, what is it you came and found me for, green Tamer? We are similar, and there is something very, very wrong with you."

The boy looked down at his shoes, studying the laces. "Why would you help me? You are responsible for all of this… this death, this destruction, you are my enemy."

Tueno grinned. "You do no believe digimon are tools, you see them as… companions. They are merely… pets, servants." It raised its nose, looking down at the boy before it. "I want this all fixed, I am here to fix it. There will be no servitude, no partnerships, no domination. That silver Tamer, the one you direct your anger at now, I want him. You can help me do that, and it will benefit you."

Henry's features softened, thinking. _Ryo… domination… it's talking about Cyberdramon, with the whip… _"What would you be doing with him, once you had him?" _Do I want Ryo gone that much? Rika… what if it hurt Rika…? What am I doing…? I can't… think… straight… _

Tueno grinned, knowing it already had the Tamer under its paw. "That, is my business."

-

Rika had closed her eyes, leaning back on Ryo, her head tucked under his chin, just resting. She couldn't remember having felt quite that content for a long time. No, she could, when her father had pulled her into his lap before bed every night and read her a book, or told her a story. _There's something comforting about males, _she thought to herself, _they're such a contrast to females, deeper, warmer, it's… hard to justify. _She made a little sound, almost like a sigh.

Ryo smiled, looking down at her face, _she is very pretty, _he ran a hand through her hair, despite the abuse it had received over the last two days, it was still soft. The black light from the lighthouse flashed over them again. "We should probably head back Rika." He said softly.

She made a more miffed sounding sigh, snuggling a little closer to him. _That was… out of character…_

_That was cute, _Ryo smiled. "Wake up… come on, they've got to think you've killed me by now."

"Mmf." Rika mumbled, she ran her hand over her eyes, trying to wake herself up. Once functioning at least basically, she looked around. "Odd, how the lighting here stays the same no matter what time of day it is."

Ryo nodded, standing up and puling her to her feet beside him. "True, it is an odd world." Rika began pulling her red hair back into its normal spiky ponytail, only to have Ryo interrupt her. "Your hair looks good down, you know."

A crooked smile touched her lips. "Eh heh," her hands kept pulling the stray pieces back from her face. "That a hint?"

Just as she went to pull the elastic off her wrist, Ryo caught it and spun her into him. "Maybe…" He grinned impishly.

She rolled her eyes at him, letting the hair fall back around her shoulders. "I see…" She nudged the edge of his jaw with the bridge of her nose. "C'mon, the other's are probably looking for us."

-

s/k: oh! Look who did it again! I updated! In any case, no, the fic is not done, it was deleted in a re-posting accident, so the actual writing is done (the painfully bad, very confusing original) and it is being re-posted bit by bit, once it's been edited and added to, etc.  
Now, we've reached the half way point! Not sure if that's good or bad, or just a random piece of information… but we have. Thanks to my reviewers! It makes me fuzzy on the inside… like I just swallowed a bunny rabbit. XD


	12. Chaos

Ch. 12

"Hey guys!" Ryo called down to the beach, where the remaining Tamers were sitting in a circle.

Takato leaped to his feet, "Rika and Ryo are back!" he cried.

Smiles broke out on the faces of Jeri, Kenta and Suzi, followed by a chorus of: "Hi!" "You're back!" "Is everything alright?"

The pair wandered over to the other Tamers, sitting down in the soft grey sand. "Where's Henry?" Suzi asked immediately

"That's a bit of a complicated question." Ryo muttered as he ran his fingers through his truly disheveled hair.

"The thing is Suzi," Rika started gently as she dropped onto the sand next to Ryo, "we don't know where he is right now. He sort of just disappeared." she glanced around at the others, checking their reactions.

The younger girl stared at her, strong disbelief written on her face. "That's impossible and you know it Rika Nonaki. He's not that kind of person and he wouldn't just leave us here!" Glaring, Suzi stood and clenched her fists at her sides, obviously she was just as protective of her brother as he was of her.

Surprised that someone so much younger than them could argue so strongly, they were stunned into silence. That's when, as if on some freaky cue, Henry and Terriermon came out of the woods, grinning like a pair of idiots and thrilled to have found the others. "Hi, we're back!" Henry smiled.

"Momentai!" Terriermon squeaked.

Suzi turned her head towards the two figures on the tree line, completely stunned. "H – Hen… ry?" She stammered weakly.

"Terriermon!" Lopmon cried, dancing on the spot beside Suzi. It was only then that the others truly realized the little digimon was there, they stared, confused.

Monodramon wandered up from the foamy surf behind them, "I though I heard you Terriermon, how in the name of Deva's did you get here?"

Terriermon grinned widely. "Henry did some poking around, we can bring _all_ the digimon back, and we know some more about figuring out the riddle Uemari gave us." That brought real stares from the Tamers, Terriermon hadn't been around when that had happened, _none_ of the digimon had.

"What?" Monodramon asked, puzzled.

"What riddle?" Lopmon turned to Suzi.

Calumon peeked out from Jeri's lap. "What's he talking about Jeri?"

Henry held up a hand. "It's alright, I talked to Terriermon on the way back, we can explain it all to you guys, and then we'll pull the other digimon out." Nods circled the generally disoriented group, Suzi sat down, and they all made some room for Henry and Terriermon, waiting expectantly for the no doubt confusing explanation that would follow.

(& )

"What are they doing in my D-arc?" Suzi asked, apprehension clear on her petite features as she looked at her brother.

He grinned. "Remember the swirling thing down the beach? That was the beginnings of a portal, still little, couldn't really be used, and it was the need to have the digimon with us that opened it in the first place. So when you – " he nodded at Suzi " – pointed your D-arc at it, there was a way for the digimon to be with us, still being data in a real world though, they were stored in your D-arc."

Kenta nodded, looking pensive. "What do you mean 'data in a real world' ?"

"The digital world is made of data, everything is data, information." Henry started, thrilled to be the one who knew it all again. "Our world, the real world, is… well, real to us. When we're in the digital world, we're data; when we're in the real world, we're real. This world, the Dark Ocean, is like a splice of both, we're living organisms, and the digimon are still data." The others looked at him like he was completely mad. "Bringing them back just means changing them from data to living things."

"Ok," Takato said slowly, a smile beginning to spread across his face. "lets do this then, how do we get Guilmon back?"

"This is the weirdest part." Henry confessed, "The digidestined before us had these things called crests, the crests resonated with something in them, and made it possible in part for their digimon to digivolve, and travel back and forth between their world and the real world." He paused, letting the others absorb this information for a minute before he continued. "We have the equivalent of crests, we've just used them without knowing of them, like when Rika defeated Landersmon."

Everyone turned to look at the red-headed girl, despite Ryo's blatant hints, it had resumed its normal spiky ponytail, and she made direct eye contact with Henry. _How did he know about that? _"Oh?" Was all she answered she said.

"You were loyal to us, you were loyal to the Tamers, in effect, you deleted him without him having a snowballs hope in hell of coming back." Henry got a little crooked smile on his lips, amused vaguely by the snowball analogy.

The group looked back and forth between Henry and Rika, the familiar violet glare and the pacifistic grey watching it. "You're loyalty, Rika." He turned to the others, addressing them around the circle. "Takato, innocence of course, and Jeri's change." The pair nodded, and he looked at Suzi and Kenta. "You're vision Suzi, Kenta you're life." Kenta turned pensive again, almost immediately completely lost in thought. "… and Ryo is valor. I'm harmony."

Ryo had noticed Henry's attitude towards him and backed way off, something about the boy was starting to agitate him, but he couldn't place his finger on it. It worried him. "How does this get the digimon back?" He asked finally.

"I'll show you, Suzi come stand here." Henry stood up himself and gestured to his little sister that she should stand to his left, just in front of him. "Kenta, you need to be there." Kenta moved to stand a little ways from Suzi, Henry facing them. They formed a relatively even triangle. "Ok, point your D-arcs up here…" as soon as they were all pointed at one-another, light burst forth from the screens and met in the center, making a three-sided pyramid with white light at the area where the three colours met. Kenta and Suzi nearly stepped back and broke the pyramid in surprise. "It's alright!" Henry called, "Don't worry."

A few seconds later, a small, round thing floated down towards Kenta. When the boy caught it in one arm, he watched carefully and confusedly as it unfurled itself into Marineangemon, sleeping contentedly and snoring slightly. He let the arm holding his D-arc out to collapse down and help hold his digimon up. He could hardly speak he was so glad. "Thanks Henry." He got out.

The Chinese boy nodded. "No problem."

They spent half an hour pulling Guilmon and Renamon from Suzi's D-arc, and another hour explaining to their digimon everything that had happened from the beginning. Throughout the whole process, not one of the little data creatures said a word, staring at their Tamers open-mouthed and a little stunned. Some details were left out, such as how Ryo got Rika to come back, and the exact circumstances that had made her leave. Over all, everything was tucked under the rug. They split off into their smaller groups, Jeri and Takato sitting quietly by the surf, Guilmon beside Takato and Calumon in Jeri's lap. Kenta lay on his back, looking up at the grey sky with Marineangemon resting on his stomach, Suzi joined him after a while, Lopmon sitting between the two as they made small conversation.

Rika, Ryo and Henry sat together, Rika leaning against Ryo as if to declare to Henry quite firmly that she had no interest in him, and was still apprehensive of anything having to do with him. Ryo wrapped an arm loosely around her waist, Renamon and Monodramon were behind them, Monodramon napping contentedly on Renamons stomach. Terriermon didn't bother to hide his confused look at Henry, _since when does Renamon let _anyone_, much less Cyberdramons de-digivolved Monodramon, near her? _They kept up civil conversation for a while, until Henry abruptly ended it with:

"Ryo, would you mind if I talked to just you?" The two boys locked glares, the hairs on the back of Rika's neck stood up as she watched them glare at each other.

Ryo had to work not to grind his teeth together, couldn't this guy back off? "Anything that needs to be said can be said here." Subconsciously, he tightened his grip slightly on Rika's waist, Renamon's fur bristled slightly, and Monodramon opened one eye to watch the Tamers.

"Cut it out you guys." Rika interjected evenly. They continued to stare each other down as if she hadn't said anything. Abruptly, Ryo let go of Rika and stood up, careful no to let her fall over from his sudden change in position. "That's enough from both of you!" She hissed, but before she could say anything else, they'd disappeared into the trees.

Takato looked up from where he'd been sitting with Jeri on the surf. "Where are they going?"

She turned to face him. "To 'talk' " She muttered, clearly disliking the situation. Takato said something quietly to Jeri and Guilmon, standing up and starting towards the trees after Ryo and Henry. As he passed Rika, she whispered a very soft 'thanks'. Takato smiled at her and nodded, clamoring up the embankment and heading into the woods after them.

Takato caught up to Ryo and Henry maybe 5 minutes after entering the grey forest, and joined their silent trek without a word. Almost 20 minutes later they stopped just before a clearing, not very big, it looked like a little bit of no where. Henry whirled around to face Ryo, obviously mad about something. "Will you stop seducing her!" He hissed viciously, grey eyes flashing,

Ryo was a year and a half older then the other Tamers, now 17 to the scattered 15 almost 16's, and he drew himself up to his full height, looking down at Henry with extreme dislike. "I don't know what your problem is Lee, she chose to have nothing to do with you."

Takato watched, his jaw slack. Henry's hands were balled into fists. "If you hadn't gone to her on the beach, what makes you think that she _wouldn't _have wanted me there instead of you?"

Ryo smirked. "Maybe it's because I showed I cared, and didn't just slink around and spy on my team mates. I went to her, I found her, I helped, and she _didn't mind._"

"Didn't mind?" Henry cried. "You're acting like it was love at first sight or something Akiyama! It's her choice and you shouldn't interfere damnit!"

Ryo cocked an eyebrow. "I didn't lead her off into the forest and then tick her off, like you said, it's her choice, she's made it, and you should just leave it at that!" As they stood arguing, a fog had been settling itself comfortably around them, cutting them off, isolating them. Behind Henry, Tueno slid out into vision, slinking up to stand on his hind-paws beside the Chinese boy. Ryo's eyes snapped to the black creature. "You!"

"Me." Tueno replied, a smirk playing on his weasel-like features, fluffy tail swishing silently behind him. Ryo looked back at Henry, whose eyes seemed to retain the fire in them, but… there was something missing, or something added. Either way, Henry was now even less himself then he'd been on the beach. He was also painfully aware that not only was Cyberdramon inconveniently a Monodramon at the moment, but he was with Rika and the others, not there.

"What's going on!" Takato yelled; he'd never seen Tueno, only the destruction left in his wake. Faced with the sleek, dangerous feeling creature, he was rightly terrified.

Ryo was lost in thought and slight shock, his head was spinning, he couldn't think, _what's going on… ?_ A line from the riddle Uemari had given Henry rang through his fuzzy consciousness: _but when innocent blood has dampened the soil…_ He reeled, his head was ringing, it was pounding, everything hurt, he was going to be sick. _That's important though, I don't know how, but it's important! Innocent blood… _he dropped to his knees, his bad leg sending up a shot of pain to remind him of its presence.

Henry stood apart from the terrified Takato and the incapacitated Ryo, observing everything through strangely blank eyes. Detached, the Chinese boy watched as Ryo collapsed to his knees, hand on his temples, and as Takato turned to run back towards the beach. _Why… don't I feel anything about this… ? _He asked himself. _Aren't you pleased? _A voice whispered in his ear.

Tueno had taken three short bounds and caught up to Takato, catching the young boy easily before covering the distance back towards the other two Tamers. "Can't have you going off to warn people, now can I?" Takato's mouth hung slack in a silent scream of absolute terror.

Ryo looked up, head still being smacked by some invisible mace. "Takato…" He trailed off, _innocent blood… and Takato is innocent… and… Rika… shit why can't I think straight? _"… blood…" He was knocked off his knees abruptly and the pounding in his head increased as he hit the grey grass of the forest floor. "Ow!" He gasped sharply.

Henry was standing over him, eyes black instead of their usual grey, and filled with malice. "I've hated you so, so long." He grinned, fists resting on his hips with a smirk on his face.

Ryo rolled himself over backwards and brought himself to his feet, aware of his bad leg, aware of his headache, and very aware that Cyberdramon wasn't there. "It's nice to be wanted, not sure what I did to bother you so much – " He ducked as the other boy threw a punch at him. " – as this. Before this whole thing, I thought you were a pretty good guy."

Henry's face contorted in anger. "Guess you left a different impression on me!" Both ended up on the ground in a cloud of dirt and flailing fists; the little clearing had become a place of chaos.

( & )

s/k: Hey! I posted! Don't expect anything else new right away though, I'm off to Italy and Greece for two weeks! Completely awesome! Ahem, anyway, R & R and I will return with a tan! (well, I wish, it's probably not all that warm this time of year there…)

P.S. I found the freaking information on Ryo's partner finally, Monodramon, to Cyberdramon, to Justimon. -.-' It's all fixed now… glares at wood grain on floor It's you fault wood grain!


	13. Oblivion

Ch. 13  


Rika was tense, half an hour, for an entire half hour she'd sat and talked quietly with Jeri, Calumon still in her lap, Suzi, Kenta, Lopmon and Marineangemon behind them. Renamon could sense her Tamers discomfort, and had thus taken up a post watching the group, wary.

"Yeah… anyway, at least that's what I think, I don't know if there was really some undercurrent or something going on that I didn't know about, but that's what I got from the whole thing."

Rika nodded absently, biting her tongue nervously and fiddling with the red bands she normally kept on her wrists, she had no idea what the other girl was talking about anymore. "That's good." She muttered, _the worst they can do is… well, Ryo could beat Henry senseless, that's the worst that could happen. _She did an immediate double take. _No, you're completely mad Nonaka, knowing our collective luck they're in some sort of other world altogether by now, and we won't see them ever, ever again. _She did one more double take. _This is so, incredibly stupid. _"I think we should go look for them."

Jeri was cut off mid-sentence, eyes softening as she nodded. "Alright…" They didn't move for a second, almost frozen in place, each waiting for the other to move first. Jeri was the one who turned to Rika. "You're really stressed by this whole thing, aren't you?" The red-haired girl wanted to glare at her, _no kidding_. Jeri just nodded, smoothed her dress over her knees and stood up. "Ryo's the most dangerous of us all Rika, and when we do find him, he will be alright."

Silently, she wandered over to Suzi and Kenta, smiling and helping them to their feet, explaining the plan to go find the rest of the group. Rika watched her, puzzled. _She's grown up, a whole lot more then I ever expected. _

Terriermon, Renamon and Monodramon had moved to the edge of the tree line in a quiet agreement to watch the remaining Tamers. It was only when Renamon heard Rika's comment of looking for them that any of them said anything. She raised a slim eyebrow at Terriermon, who silently leaped up to her shoulder. Monodramon latched onto her arm, and Renamon whipped forwards.

Rika had only just stood up when she heard her digimon come flying towards her, she felt herself swung around to ride piggy-back style, and Monodramon land in her lap. She grinned. "Thanks." Renamon allowed herself a small smirk of satisfaction, and then turned towards the tree line.

Suzi absorbed this pretty quick. "Lopmon, digivolve!" The little long-eared look-alike to Terriermon wasted no time, and not a full second later, Antylamon had Kenta and Jeri riding on each shoulder, Guilmon under one arm, and Suzi and Calumon gripped in the other, charging madly after Renamon.

"Wheeeeeeee!" Guilmon cried, grinning happily at their speed.

Marineangemon floated along beside the group as Antylamon easily caught up to and matched paces with the rookie digimon. They exchanged slight smirks, the pair thought well of each other, and had developed a mutual respect. "Were you planning on giving us any real warning you were on the move?"

Renamon let her smirk grow to a full grin. "I knew you'd pick up on it quick, besides, you can run circles around me like this." The grey, drab scenery whipped past them in a continuous blur, no definition between the trees. It didn't take long until Antylamon turned a hard, sharp left, and Renamon followed. "Do you hear them?"

The ultimate spared a quick glance at the rookie keeping pace beside her. "They didn't go far, and there's… something else up there."

---

Henry was very proud of himself, he'd managed to land four solid punches to Ryo, blows that had made the older boy reel. Preparing for another, he realized too late that a pair of shoes were pressed to his stomach. "You ever learn to fly, Lee?" Ryo whispered before launching him into the air. He got some pretty decent altitude too. Ryo rolled himself backwards, head absolutely pounding, bad leg sending up sharp clips of pain, and brought his fists up. "Why are you doing this! It makes no sense! Teaming up with this thing? It tried to kill your sister! Don't you understand that!"

Henry lifted himself off the ground to look at Ryo, some of the black bleeding away from his irises. "What? That doesn't matter, it was fixed, and everything's going to be fine."

Ryo glared. "You're crazy! It's all going to be _fine!_ Don't you care what's happening around you? Takato is going to die or something worse if we don't stop fighting!" He closed his azure eyes, pressure behind them was starting to build now, and he was losing the feeling in his forehead and finger-tips. _This has got to stop! What's wrong with me!_

He wasn't prepared for the next attack, and so when Henry came flying into him, the two hit the ground with considerable force. It was then that Antylamon and Renamon came sailing into the clearing, Renamon letting Rika land cat-like on all fours beside the two and delivering a decisive kick to Henry's diaphragm. The Chinese boy was hauled off Ryo by a combination of Kenta and Suzi, Rika grabbing Ryo's shoulders and pulling him into an upright sitting position. "Are you alright?"

Ryo's hands went to his forehead, it felt like his brain was being confined by his skull, or the skull was shrinking, the pressure was immense. _Rika's got to understand… Takato…!_ "Takato!" He winced, his throat was raw, and breathing hurt immensely. For the first time, everyone cast their eyes over the clearing, where _was_ Takato? He'd gone after Ryo and Henry, hadn't he?

Henry struggled in the combined grip of his sister and Kenta. "Henry!" Terriermon yelled as Renamon skidded to a stop and let him hop off her shoulder. "Henry! Stop!" The little digimon ran towards the three Tamers, leaping up to land in his most familiar perch on Henry's left shoulder, pulling at his orange vest. "It's me Henry!"

Suzi resolutely hung on to her brothers arm, face pressed against his shirt sleeve. "Stop, please…" She whispered, scared.

Tueno watched the entire episode from up one of the trees, paw clamped firmly over Takato's mouth so the Tamer would not alert the others to his presence. He grinned cynically. "It'd be sad if it weren't so amusing."

Takato's eyes were flicking everywhere, terrified of what this… this creature was going to do to him. _I've got to get away… I'm going to die, he's going to kill me… why did Henry _do_ this? _

Tueno smiled, empathy accurately depicting for him what the red Tamer was feeling. "You're not a quiet one, are you? Feeling a little betrayed?" There was a pause as Takato slowly brought his eyes up to look into the matte blackness of the creature holding him captive. "Almost a pity none of you have even heard of dark spores, they certainly change a person…"

---

Meiko Uemari was a post-secondary student, studying business and animation at the local university. She herself was one of the few remaining digi-destined, and it was through Gennai's distant relative of some sort, her best friend, that the riddle had come into her hands. Meiko's hair was a dark-ish brown, a few honey coloured natural highlights running through it from her time on the soccer field. Her eyes were what people tended to comment on first though, an odd, warm ruby hue that tended to disguise itself as brown in artificial light. "Hm…" She sighed, _I wonder how Henry's doing with that riddle anyway, what with it, you know, being kind of important. _

Behind her, she heard the door to her campus apartment open and close, her roommate coming in. "Hey Meiko." A female voice drifted from behind her.

"Hey Kira, how was Tae Kwon Do?" Meiko replied, letting her hand automatically tuck her pencil behind her right ear. She stood up and wandered over to her roommate, only reaching the other girls nose in height.

Kira shook her head, her dark brown hair tied back in a messy bun with a single chopstick staying exactly in place. "Not bad, but man, kids have some serious problems learning their left from their right." She rolled her eyes, a light hazel colour around the room to show her annoyance. "In any case, it's all good."

Mieko nodded pensively, both girls had been in the digital world when the Digimon Emperor was defeated, and although they'd been very young at the time, remembered their side of the adventure. After a second, Meiko gave a voice to what was on her mind. "Kira, you know that kid I gave Gennai's old riddle too?" Her friend nodded. "Well, I'm worried about him and the others he's with; and that the riddle isn't a riddle, more like a map, or some sort of crazy warning thing."

Kira raised an eyebrow. "Valid worry," she admitted, "but unless you know how to find them in just a few hours and communicate this to them, there's nothing we can do. They've got to figure out some stuff at least on their own. We did."

The shorter girl pursed her lips, mouth flattening into a single hard line. "Not fast enough, we lost someone. Do they really need to go through that if we can help in some way?"

Now it was Kira who was disconcerted. "Our situation was extreme, very, very extreme. There's nothing to say theirs will go that far, we weren't dealing with a digimon."

"They're not in the digital world though Kira! There's nothing to say it won't go that far, or farther." Meiko blew out an exasperated sigh. "I know we're busy, really busy, but it's a Friday night, and we've got at least 48 hours before Monday morning." She locked eyes with her friend. "No more then that, I just don't want to go alone. That's a little too dangerous for my liking."

Kira blew a stray hair out of her face. "I don't like the timing as far as exams go, but of course, I'll come with you." In seconds her serious expression changed to an almost impish grin. "So… lets get going, shall we?"

---

Takato tore his eyes from Tueno, watching his friends in the little clearing below him. _No… Henry stop… help me! Please!_

Deaf to Takato and the others pleas for him to return to himself, Henry ripped away from the collective grasp of his sister, Terrirmon and Kenta. As he pulled away, he vest came off his shoulders with Terrirmon still gripping the collar like a life-line to his partner. "Let go of me!" Henry's yell brought everyone to a halt, the black glare seeming to freeze them all in place.

Henry's back was to the tree Tueno was holding Takato his silent captive in, and the completely black mark on the back of his neck was plainly visible. Takato's breath caught in his throat, _what is that… ?_ Tueno smiled, "That is my second greatest accomplishment," It seemed to feel the need to brag about this, as if it were indeed some great feat. "I created a dark spore, with nothing but myself and my host's knowledge on the subject." It paused, smiling. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

"What's so wrong with you that you're doing this Henry!" Terriermon cried, near to tears.

His Tamer seemed to relax a little, letting himself stand up straight instead of the feral hunched position he'd been in. The black glare moved from Terriermon, Suzi and Kenta over to where Rika was still supporting Ryo. Rika met his look, finding herself forced to hide the shock she felt at seeing such an incredible hurt beside the anger. His legs abruptly gave out, and he collapsed completely unconscious on the hard, grey ground.

"… Henry… ?" Suzi whispered, the small sound almost too muffled by the mist for anyone to hear.

In the tree, Tueno's malicious glee turned to a lethal temper. _How could that happen? A host does not collapse! A host cannot reject a spore! There hasn't been enough time for the spore to even properly embed itself in him! **How could this happen?**_ The creature was in a towering rage. "Enough of that sentimental fool!" He hissed, roughly snapping Takato out of its grasp and angrily slashing a long, straight line down the boys forearm. Takato tumbled from the tree with a surprised cry, droplets of his own blood falling around him.

Takato hit the ground and almost seemed to be rebounded, as if the earth didn't want him touching it. There was an abrupt flash of light, and a silent rushing thunder roared everywhere. Tueno was blown up out of his tree, the other Tamers thrown off their feet and into the forest, out of the clearing.

Rika was thrown against a tree from the concussion that radiated from a circle around Takato, her head smacked against it, and she slid to the ground unconscious. The other Tamers were also launched, landing in various places and with varying degrees of pain depending on what they hit. Jeri shrieked in panic as a tombstone grew from the ground in front of her, Ryo's yelp of surprise came next as he found himself lying in murky water.

Henry was draped over a particularly long tombstone like something dead, and only Takato was where he had been before the catastrophe. Kenta looked up from his sprawled position on the grey grass, he seemed to be the only one of the group that hadn't hit anything. His legs shaking a little, he carefully raised himself off the ground and made his way back towards the edge of the small clearing. "H-hello… ?" As he passed a particularly large oak-like tree he spotted Suzi's shoes sticking out of a low, dense bush. He tapped the runner and the attached girl crawled warily out of the bush.

"What happened?" She whispered.

Kenta looked down at her, completely dumbfounded. "I have no idea."

---

s/k: Any guesses on what happened? Nothing unpredicted, it's all in the riddle from Gennai. The whole fiction is pretty dark. Also, Kira and Meiko's younger selves are co-characters in Hidden in Plan Sight too, so at some point they'll be involved too. R&R


	14. Coping

s/k: updating spree, kind of deeply fascinating, isn't it?

Ch. 14

Ryo hauled himself out of the sludgy water, the pressure in his head had vanished completely, and his leg only complained when he turned or twisted it, walking was no longer a chore. "What on earth is going on?" He asked no one in particular.

A ways away, he could see Kenta as he tapped Suzi's shoe and the small girl crawled out from under her bush. To his right, he could see Jeri as she scrambled away from the tombstone that had burst up in front of her. "Takato!" She screamed.

Ryo turned his attention to where the red Tamer had fallen from the tree. Around him there was a circle of small blood spatters, and his forearm had a single long slash cut just slightly off centre running from his wrist to the inside of his elbow. Ryo started towards him, but was beaten by Guilmon, who ran out of the forest's edges and made a B-line for his Tamer.

"Takato! Takatomon!" The red digimon was in a panic, reverting momentarily back to his original name for his Tamer.

Ryo looked around for Rika, finding her sprawled at the base of a large oak-like tree, and carefully picked her up, bringing her unconscious form over to where the others were converged over Takato. It was chaos in the little circle, clips of sentences were about all anyone could make sense of. "He's bleeding too much." "Put pressure on it." "Doesn't _anyone_ know how to fix this?" "Since when did we ever take anything for this?" "Shut up and help me tie this!" "You don't know what you're doing any more then we do." "He needs to stop bleeding!"

Takato was dazed, his vision was blurry, everyone was talking at once, and no one seemed to know what to do. "I'm… fine… " He mumbled thickly.

"It's going to be ok 'Kato, we're here." Someone said, smoothing his shaggy hair away from his face and sliding the goggles off. Something ripped, it sounded like a fabric of some sort, it was being wrapped around his arm, wrapped too tight. They were all talking at once again, and then it all faded away.

---

The group was rather defeated and beaten looking as they made their way to the beach, Renamon carried Rika, and Antylamon had Henry and Takato in each hand. Guilmon never strayed far from the threesome, and Terriermon rode on the large digimons' shoulder. Ryo and Monodramon were almost completely silent, as were the others. It seemed to take an eon or so until they made it back to the beach, or what was left of it. The water looked unbelievably deep one moment, and then hardly 3 inches the next, there were houses half-submerged, and people peeking their heads cautiously out of their destroyed homes.

Digimon, both large and small, were looking around confusedly at their new surroundings, and only a group of small, finned Scubamon appeared calm and composed. The colour that was seeping into everything was what really caught the Tamers off-guard though. The tones were significantly muted, but the water was again its proper hues of blue, green, and pale browns at its edges on the beach; and when they glanced around they noticed some patches of green grass, and a few faintly pink blossoms from a large Sakura tree standing alone on a small hill in the middle of the water.

Ryo took one look around and abruptly sat down on the sand. "Well, looks like we've got our work cut out for us."

Kenta just looked at him, Marineangemon by his shoulder. "What are you talking about? This is horrible! These people are innocent and they shouldn't be here!"

Renamon set Rika down, almost immediately the girl rolled over and threw up violently. Suzi sighed. "They don't have a choice Kenta, we don't have a choice, nobody here has a choice in the matter!" Her voice rose to almost a scream, causing people and digimon to turn momentarily and look at the small girl raging at the world.

"You're going to attract the wrong kind of attention Suzi, we don't have the energy to deal with that." Ryo said flatly, helping Rika to sit up and lean against him once her stomach was empty. "What we really need is rest." In unison they looked up, hoping against hope that the sun had tried to return with the colour. They were rewarded with a faint glow showing behind the clouds to the west, it was dusk in this new world.

"They collided, didn't they." Jeri almost whispered. It was the first time any of them had dared to give voice to the thought, but they'd all been thinking it.

"Guess so." Rika replied, eyes closed in exhaustion. _When was the last time we slept? After I got out of that cell? Yes… that sounds right… that was a long time ago, an age ago._

Takato was also awake, but he'd lost enough blood that he was light-headed and dizzy if he tried to stand, only Henry remained truly unconscious, but he still had a pulse, was still breathing, still had the black mark on the back of his neck.

---

Meiko and Kira had just booted up their computer and retrieved their D-arcs when the world abruptly turned itself over. The dorm they lived in was on the second floor, and with a boom of what sounded almost like thunder, the ground heaved and they were thrown to the floor. The carpet bulged in between them, and the support beams from the inside of the wall below them burst through. Electrical wires flashed, and the room was plunged into darkness.

"K-kira? You alright?" Meiko asked from one side of the wood and wire barrier.

The reply that came back was stalled. "Yeah, yeah I'm ok. The fridge nearly crushed me though."

Meiko nodded, knowing her friend couldn't see it, but not caring. "Ok, we need to get out of here."

"There's a bathroom window over here I can get out of, what about you?"

"The fire escape is on this side, is the drop over there an alright size to get down from?"

"I'll manage."

"Where should we meet up?"

"You know that art sculpture in the field? It's right next to the building; I'll be there in 5 minutes."

"Ok, see you there."

Meiko turned and crawled through the dark towards the red patch, marking the window they had put curtains on to keep out the early morning sunlight. She pulled the material aside and slid the window open, clamoring out and almost flying down the stairs. Kira on the other hand, shattered the smaller bathroom window with a well placed sidekick, using a thick towel she managed to clear away most of the remaining sharp bits around the edges, and began to slide herself out head first. The dorm complex had compressed, and so the drop once she was hanging out the window wasn't too large. It wasn't long before both were standing beside the sculpture of two chairs stacked oddly together.

"Now what?"

"Now we figure out what the hell just happened."

---

The Tamers had eventually agreed to take turns sleeping, with one person and their digimon awake as watch. Ryo and Monodramon went first, Ryo leaning with his back to a tree, the little dark digimon beside him. "We've certainly messed up this time, don't really feel like much of a Legendary Tamer."

Monodramon nodded, the pair was in a silent agreement of exhaustion and solemnity. "I know what you mean." He sighed. "I guess we'll just have to wait until it's our turn to sleep, and then remember how to be Legendary again."

---

"Hey Mei… this doesn't really resemble campus all that much anymore…" Kira turned in a full circle, looking apprehensively at their surroundings. The entire physics main building had fallen into a huge canyon that seemed to have simply opened in the middle of the ground, a section of the library was hanging in thin air because the ground had crumbled into the new chasm, and people could still be seen as they helped pull survivors from the edge.

Meiko shook her head. "My Gods, what is going on?"

Kira mimicked her friends gesture of incredulity. "I… I don't know, but I think we need to find those new Tamers, Cellomon, and Oollamon. Right now." Without a word of disagreement, or any other words at all, the two girls set off towards the park in the centre of the city. It was one of those things they'd come to realize over time, a portal was far more likely to stay open if it was in a sheltered area. That was their best chance to start anything, the city's biggest park.

---

Ryo and Monodramon had swapped watch with Jeri and Calumon after two hours or so, then it was Kenta and Marineangemons' turn. It was on Kenta's watch that two women, perhaps in their early twenties strode past the group with a pair of shapes shadowing them. The group of four paused, one of the smaller shapes lifting its nose to the misty night air, then it looked right at Kenta.

Kenta froze, and when the shape didn't take its eyes off him, he whispered to Marineangemon: "Wake everyone up, but be quiet about it. Hurry!" The little digimon did exactly as his Tamer had asked, floating immediately over to Takato and Jeri, then to Ryo, then Suzi, and finally Rika. As the blurry figures approached through the mist, Ryo casually rolled over and glanced through his eye lashes at them. Takato was facing them already, and opened one eye to watch just behind Jeri's head. Renamon opened one eye from where she had settled on the opposite side of the tree to Kenta, wary.

When the smaller figures broke through the mist Kenta recognized them as a pair of digimon, the first resembled a small, pale tiger, its paws lit with fire, eyes a startling gold and amber hue; Oollamon. The second was similar in size, but a sleek black panther with green eyes, and a bead on her tail; Cellomon. Behind them came their Tamers, a female of average height for her 21 or so years, long dark brown hair pulled back with a chopstick, dressed in jeans, a black T-shirt and a camouflage green corduroy jacket. With her was another female, similar age, with short lighter brown hair brushing her ears. Her jeans accompanied by a red windbreaker and a red T–shirt.

The tiger digimon, hardly reaching her Tamer's knees stepped carefully around the group feigning sleep. When she came to Ryo she let out a small sound of surprise. Oollamon returned to her Tamer, the girl with longer hair, saying something into the now crouching girls' ear that made her eyes widen. "Is he awake?" A nod from Oollamon. She stood and turned to her companion, "We've found them." Her companion nodded once. "Akiyama-kun, stand up, I know you're awake, and I know it's you."

Still lying in the sand, Ryo ground his teeth together, aggravated that they knew none of the Tamers were sleeping. He stood up, looking this newcomer straight in the eye. She was human, she had a digimon, she could be defeated. The longer they observed one-another, the more Ryo thought he vaguely remembered someone with that same smirk on her face… "K-Kira?"

She nodded, smirk broadening into a smile. "You remembered me."

Now he studied her companion, she'd gotten taller, they'd both aged, he'd aged, and he knew them. "Meiko."

She smiled. "Good to know an adventure is not so easily forgotten."

Ryo was floored, he didn't know what to say, how to react. The last time he'd seen these two he'd been 10, he'd spent two years wandering the digital world, and they'd met at Wellen Gehen. "How… how are you here?"

Kira rolled her eyes. "Well, since you guys did such a fine job of not letting the worlds merge, we didn't have a whole lot of options; we're here to help you, because frankly, we all need help right now."

Meiko nodded. "I have to admit I'm surprised though, I didn't think we'd see you again, pretty much ever."

Ryo grimaced. "I tend to find ways out of tight situations."

"Is Reyna here? Damian? Yukari?" There was no answer to Kira's question. She and Meiko dropped their eyes in sympathy. "I'm sorry."

"What about Jason, Yuki and Ayami?" Ryo asked quietly, not looking at them.

"Ayami made it out, he's in Britain though."

Ryo nodded. "I'm glad." He whispered.

They all stayed as they were, Kenta and Marineangemon looking back and forth between the three as if he'd been dropped into the middle of a play without a script. After a while, Ryo turned and simply said: "Get up guys, it's as safe as it's ever going to be."

Rika was up in a moment, Suzi right behind her. Jeri helped Takato to stand, and Ryo made introductions. The Tamers were pretty battered, but generally alright, Jeri's olive green dress had a tear in it from where she'd broken her falls with her knee multiple times, the gash on her shin was still plainly visible. Takato's hoodie sleeve was pulled back, exposing the make-shift bandage and dried blood all over his arm. Suzi and Kenta were mostly just covered in a rather wide variety of small cuts and bruises, as was everyone. Suzi's pink vest was covered in mud, and Kenta's zippered sweater had a rip down one arm. Rika's long black shirt had been shortened from where she'd worked so hard to tear it into bandages, now it fell just past the belt on her Capri's. The knees of Ryo's jeans were worn to the point where small rips had begun to form, and his white T-shirt wasn't really white anymore. Somewhere in their endeavors his maroon sweater had been lost.

Henry stayed where he was on the sand, orange vest acting as a beacon to remind them of his presence, Terriermon stood defensively in front of the boy. "Hey, is that Jenrya-kun?" Meiko asked uneasily, eyeing the boy on the ground. "That looks like his vest."

Ryo's shoulders sagged. "Yeah, that's him. I think you need to hear what happened to understand why we're grid-locked with him." Kira and Meiko exchanged apprehensive looks, then sat themselves down cross-legged and gathered their digimon into their laps. Ryo starred at the sand. "He first started acting out of character about two days ago…"

---

Meiko's eyes were wide, Kira absently stroked Oollamon's ears. "This was… unexpected, to say the least."

Suzi looked away, biting her lip hard and trying to hide her anger. "Can you fix it? Can you help him?"

Terriermon had sat down beside his unconscious Tamer, leaning back and looking almost relaxed as he listened to the conversation taking place around him. Henry moved a little, seeming to struggle as if something were pinning him down. As he did so, the black mark on the back of his neck was clearly exposed to the circle of Tamers. Meiko's gaze transferred almost immediately to the spot. "What, is that?"

Kira stared. "I… I think that's… a spore…" The younger Tamers exchanged looks with one another, what on earth were these two talking about?

Meiko shook her head. "Not possible, the Emperor is long gone. He's a successful business person of some sort now. My aunt knows him."

"Tueno mentioned that word, spore." Takato said suddenly, he cleared his throat. "He called it a dark spore, and was pretty mad when Henry collapsed. As if he'd just levitated, or done something else impossible."

Ryo narrowed his eyes. "I've heard of what you guys are talking about, the Digimon Emperor, right?" Kira and Meiko nodded. "He was the one who created Dark Spores, and the collars with the towers."

Meiko nodded. "Yeah, he was knocked out of power just as we started to really realize what we'd found in the digital world."

Everyone sat in silence for a while, digesting this new information and trying to see how it all fit in with their current situation. Then Kira voiced a thought that at least a few of them had been pondering: "So, how do we get it out?"

More silence.

"His D-arc is black." Terriermon said quietly, breaking the group from their reverie. He swept one of his long ears back over his small shoulder and unclipped the D-arc from his Tamers belt. "See? Black."

Kira and Meiko pulled out their own D-arcs, the other Tamers shadowing the new-comers confusedly. Meiko's was a deep, rich pink, almost magenta, while Kira's showed a shadowy, teal and cobalt kind of blue. "How do you suppose we go about doing this without hurting him?" Kira asked as she stared at her D-arc.

"We'll find a way, there's always a way."

---

Three hours later, it was only Meiko, Kira, Kenta and Suzi that were still awake; the foursome had gathered around Henry with their digimon and Terriermon, deeply engrossed in trying to remove the spore. The others had been told to get some rest while they could, everyone was hungry, and they couldn't be wasting energy when it wasn't necessary.

Takato was resting with his back on the tree sheltering them all, with Jeri leaning on his chest, her head cupped in his shoulder. Not far from them, Rika and Ryo were fast asleep as well. Ryo had one arm loosely draped over the fiery red-heads side, and Rika had snuggled up against him. A wind had picked up over the last hour or so, and goose bumps could be seen over the pairs' arms. Kira chanced a look over her shoulder, checking on everyone. She smiled softly when she saw the two couples, Ryo had lost everyone the last time he'd been to the digital world, and here were all these new Tamers his age… Her smile broadened into a grin, he'd found someone he could care for, and she was happy for him.


	15. Silver

s/k: I think this is the darkest chapter I've re-written yet, I won't give away how it ends, but wow…

Ch. 15  


When Rika awoke she could feel the band of warmth that Ryo's arm made over her side and where it rested in the sand beside her back. His forehead was just touching the top of her own head, and she could hear each breath he took; it was that quiet. Refusing to acknowledge that she was beginning to come fully awake, she softly ran her fingers over his collar bone and closed her eyes again. Rika was not a person prone to falling into lapses of fantasy, but feeling safer then she had since her last night in her own bed, she drifted away.

---

It was Meiko who had finally discovered a way to remove the half-grown spore embedded in Henry's neck, she had Kenta help her write a sort of make-shift anti-virus program with a salvaged laptop from one of the nearby homes, abandoned and being raided by a group of Pumpkinmon. Hacking through the basic password system had taken a very long time, to say the least, but once into the computer they'd found it relatively easy to take the owners protection system and modify it. Kenta's hobby of writing himself simple games had never proven itself so useful.

Currently, they had Henry's D-arc attached to the computer's USB port, and were waiting while the machine went through and cleaned out the small, black device. Throughout the process, Henry had begun to roll over, wince, or lash out and random intervals. It proved Meiko's theory true, that the reason the spore had managed to take hold so fast had to do largely with his D-arc; from there they could only guess as to why their odd solution was working.

Kira and Oollamon were curled up in the soft, cool sand not far from Meiko, Kenta, and their digimon. Oollamons' flaming paws didn't seem to burn her Tamer, and served as more of a heat source to keep the pair from shivering. Meiko zipped up her red windbreaker, glad she'd thought to bring a jacket. She looked over the sleeping teens, Suzi and Lopmon seemed to be doing alright in her pink vest, and with the couples sharing heat it didn't look like they were going to catch hypothermia or anything. Jeri's legs were tinged blue though, and Ryo and Rika were both covered in goose bumps. Sighing, Meiko turned her eyes back to the softly glowing computer screen. The bar reading progress was at 99, and moments after it finished its job. Henry's eye snapped open and he sat bolt upright. His head whipped around to take in his environment, and as he did so, his eyebrows knit together in a confused expression. Then he registered Meiko and Kenta. "Wha… what are _you_ doing here?" He asked, completely disoriented.

Kenta snorted. "Some way to that the pair of people who just saved your life."

In his own little groove of sand, Terriermon's long ears twitched in his sleep, eventually it was his Tamers' voice that called him into consciousness. "HENRY!" The little digimon cried, hurling himself out of the sand and onto Henry's shoulder. "You're alright? Aren't you? Henry?"

The Chinese boy let his posture slump, and gathered his legs under him cross-legged. "I… think I'm alright." Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of Ryo and Rika, his foot lying across her ankle. He ground his teeth together and answered Terriermon again. "Yeah, I'm fine buddy, don't worry."

---

Kira took her turn on watch, and then switched off with Henry, overall, the group had been in the same place for about 7 hours, with patches of sleep and dozing. Henry traded watches with Rika, who went for another hour or so of napping while Suzi took watch. At the end of the younger girls' turn, most of the Tamers were beginning to wake up, many with very, very empty stomachs. The adrenaline of always running had worn off, and the hunger had finally managed to catch up with them.

Kira stood up and stretched, Oollamon beside her mimicking the awakening Tamer, and then sitting down on her haunches to scratch an itch behind her ear. A little ways away from Kira, Ryo kissed Rika's forehead lightly. "C'mon, wakey wakey, eggs and bakey."

Rika looked up at him like he was mad. "Did… you just say 'wakey wakey, eggs and bakey', or am I hearing things?"

Ryo smiled, "I did indeed, my older sister used to wake me up like that at some ungodly hour on Sundays. It was awful."

Rika laughed quietly, and then rolled in and nudged him over quickly before rolling back and standing up. "If you actually have 'eggs and bakey', I will worship you forever. I am so, so hungry."

He sat bolt up-right and looked around for Monodramon, who appeared at his side almost instantly. "Eggs and bakey, Monodramon, we need eggs and bakey."

Silence, a long, confused stare. "…what in the name of data are you talking about?"

Kenta joined the conversation with a well placed definition. "I believe 'bakey' is often a child's first attempt at the word 'bacon', Monodramon, and thus, we have proved that Ryo will never grow up, and is doomed to the vocabulary of a 5 year old."

Ryo stood up and put his hands behind his head. "Aw… that was mean Kenta. Rika! Kenta's beating up on me!"

Rika laughed, and turned on her heal to join the gathering forming under the tree, calling over her shoulder: "Talk to Suzi, she might be able to help you out!"

Marineangemon giggled where it floated just above Kenta's shoulder. The Tamer looked at his digimon pointedly. "Hey! I thought you were on _my_ side! Traitor." This only made the little thing giggle harder. "Pf," Kenta rolled his eyes dramatically, "man, I feel like I've just been the morning's entertainment."

"Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey!" Meiko yelled, waking up the stragglers with a giant, mischievous grin on her petite features. Kenta and Rika groaned in unison, Ryo just laughed.

When everyone was awake and together, the Tamers began to plan their next move. Suzi took count of everyone present; it seemed glaringly obvious that Kazu wasn't there. "I think we should stick together, whatever we do." She stated firmly.

There was an agreement of nods. "Our whole purpose was to find and help you guys." Meiko said. "We know how to use the crests you've got, and other then that, we follow your lead."

"We're here to stop Tueno. Simple as that." Kenta clarified. "Not a digimon, not a living organism, not a D-force, just this… thing, that's got its own ideas on what digimon/human relations should be like."

"Do we know what happened to it once the worlds merged?" Takato asked no one in particular.

Jeri shook her head. "I think we would have known if it were still in the area, I mean, would it really have left us alone this long without trying something?"

Guilmon spoke up. "It's nasty, it's dark, and I don't trust it."

Ryo's eyebrows knit together in thought. "Tueno manipulates people, Guilmon's completely right." Here he glanced fleetingly at Henry. "It's very possible it's in the area and trying to lull us into a false sense of security."

"Fair," Rika continued. "But whether or not it's here, we need to move, we need to do something. The people keep disappearing, or hiding, or doing whatever they're doing, but there's less. I don't like it, and I'm positive they're not running away because they can. I mean, where would they go? All of Japan is like one big marshy, half-decayed log."

Kira chuckled. "I'll have to remember that, I've never heard such an accurate description of a situation. Mud and sand guys, mud and sand."

The others looked at Meiko, as if she'd supply a bit more of an answer to what Kira had said. Meiko just smiled and held up her hands in a gesture of unknowing. "I don't understand what she says half the time, don't worry too much."

"Worry plenty."

The Tamers whipped around where they sat, many now crouching instead of truly sitting. It seemed that during the course of their conversation, scores and scores of Scubamon had poured out of the water and surrounded them. Kira stood tall, the other Tamers following her lead, and raised an eyebrow. They came up to about Kira's waist, various hues of blue, with fins in place of ears, and wide, toothy mouths that swept across the front of their faces. Each held a loaded harpoon gun. "So… we're to be intimidated by you… ?" She asked, a smirk playing on her features, Oollamon snarling by her side.

Ryo and Rika swapped almost confused looks, Suzi narrowed her eyes, Guilamon growled in what he believed to be a fierce manor, and Henry stood as if he'd stopped in the street, simply observing the goings-on around him. "What do you want?"

The Scubamon ignored the Chinese boys' words, and instead turned to Kenta. "Hikari is on you, of you."

Kenta looked at the spokes-digimon, clearly confused. "What's Hikari? Are you trying to tell me I've got mud on me or something?" Self consciously, he dusted of his pants, as if that flash of cleaning would stand a chance against the sand, mud and blood.

The Scubamon leveled its harpoon gun at Kenta's chest. "Come with us… "

Kenta shook his head, and would have laughed if it hadn't been him held at harpoon point by such a creature. "No, I've got prior commitments thanks."

Kira glanced at Meiko. "They don't mean Hikari Takaishi, do they?"

Meiko shrugged. "I don't think so, there're plenty of Hikari's in Japan, there's no reason to think they're talking about my aunt, of all people."

Kira accepted that answer, and turned her attention back to the Scubamon. "Bugger off, we've got things to do."

The Scubamon ignored her, but two or three to abrupt notice of Meiko, and the lead digimon brandished its harpoon gun closer to Kenta. "Get the other one, 'we've got things to do'," He mocked Kira, smirking as three or four others separated Meiko from the group, while still others prodded Kenta.

Henry brushed two fingers against Kira's sleeve, and she turned around with a 'what?' expression on her face. Henry just stepped past her, out to talk to the Scubamon. "He dropped himself down to sit in the sand, so he was seeking them at eye level. He didn't sound patronizing, or curious, or even really all that interested when he spoke; it was just a straight up question, and if anything, he could have been described as beaten while he sat there. "Why do you want them?"

The finned digimon considered the boy sitting in front of them for a while, and then one pushed its way to the front, and answered his question. "We want Hikari because she is what we are not. They are like Hikari."

Henry absorbed the information in stride, and asked another question. "Who's Hikari?"

The Scubamon grinned. "Digidestined, she was light, and for a while, the light disappeared. They are not light, but they are like it. She is a person."

Henry nodded politely and then stood up and faced the Tamers, a rueful smile appeared on his face. "Well, interesting as that was, did anyone get more out of that then I did? Because I got about nothing."

Suzi looked at her brother oddly. "How'd you – "

He silenced her with a look. "We can talk about that when we don't have company." TO get his point across, he glanced at the Scubamon. "I don't think this is a good time."

Takato nodded. "Fair. What do we do though?"

Kenta and Meiko exchanged looks. "Can I come back to the group now?" In a silent answer to his question, the Scubamon herded the pair farther away form the group, towards the edge of a particularly deep section of water.

Ryo quietly pulled his D-arc out of his pocket, looking at Monodramon, then Rika, Renamon, and lastly Takato and Guilmon. They nodded slightly back at him, and Takato passed the silent message along to Henry, who also nodded his agreement. Carefully, the quartet began to retrieve their cards and D-arcs from various pockets and belt clips, hoping that none of the Scubamon would notice, Takato let his left hand drift back behind Suzi, where all four could see it. His hand was in a fist, and slowly, he raised one finger. _One. _Ryo though to himself. _Two…_ Henry counted off. _Three! _Rika grinned.

"Renamon, biomerge!"

"Guilmon, biomerge!"

"Monodramon, digivolve to… Cyberdramon!"

"Cyberdramon, biomerge!"

"Terriermon, biomerge!"

The four of them slashed their cards in perfect unison, and the effect was exactly what they'd wanted. Kira grabbed Suzi and spun into the centre of the four new digimon, Oollamon and Lopmon at their heels. Many of the Scubamon beat a hasty retreat back into the water they'd emerged from, about 10 of them though, did not. Two of them leaped on Meiko, dragging her down on to the sand, a third pointing its harpoon at her. Another two pulled exactly the same tactic with Kenta. The remaining four calmly restrained the pairs' digimon, Cellomon and Marineangemon, who did not take th action quietly.

Meiko wiggled furiously. "Get your fins off me! Right now! Let me go!"

Cellomon hissed and tried to her claws into one of her captors, but they couldn't seem to puncture the digimon's rubbery skin. Kenta was also yelling, his words punctuated by kicks. "Let me go! Crawl back into the ocean! Get off me!" Marineangemon, on the other hand, was just being crushed in one of the Scubamon's hands, making little sounds of pain and anger.

The Scubamon holding Marineangemon grinned. "Take action against us, and one of them stays with us forever." It's huge mouth was shaped in a smug smirk of self-satisfaction. The Tamers had mostly relied on the Scubamon being surprised enough that they could pick up the others and send the hostile digimon packing. However, their loose plan had completely backfired.

Justimon looked at Sakuyamon, Gallantmon and Megagargomon. "So… next step? Anyone?"

"Stalemate." Megagargomon stated flatly, "we've reached a stalemate and I don't know how we'd break it."

The ten Scubamon on the beach began to slowly move their captives towards the water. Kira and Suzi stood behind the larger digimon, tensely trying to think of a way out of their sticky situation. "You're too big!" Kira called to the four Tamers. "The Scubamon aren't big enough that you can deal with them, de-digivolve!"

Recognizing the truth in what Kira was saying, the four split into their separate persons, Cyberdramon uttering a low rumble at the denial of a proper fight. Ryo vaguely remembered where he'd neatly coiled his whip and hung it up, at the back of his closet, and not on-hand. "This is not a good situation." Rika muttered, glaring at the Scubamon.

With the four threatening figures gone, the hordes of Scubamon poured out of the water once again. Suzi realized how everyone was spaced out, and let out a curse that turned heads, especially her older brothers'. "No!" Henry yelled. When they'd de-digivolved, he, Rika, Ryo and Takato were just far enough away from Kira and Suzi that the Scubamon could isolate the two.

"Do you ever give up?" Kira shouted as they neatly pinned her to the sand, Suzi a few feet to her left.

Oollamon snarled viciously, the water digimon wouldn't touch her for fear of being burned, but that was taken care of. A net sprang from the crowd of Scubamon, and Oollamon was completely flattened into the ground. "What?" She cried. "Can't stand the heat? Cowards!" They too were swiftly moved towards the waters edge.

"Henry…" One of the Scubamon whispered. "Jenrya… come with us…"

Ryo's head whipped around, trying to pin which ones were whispering. It was eerie, and coming from all directions. "Cut it out!"

Henry's eyes were wide with fear, and the voices whispered seductively from everywhere at once. "You understand us Jenrya…"

"Come home…"

"Come back…"

"Leave me alone!"

"Let us go!"

"Get off of me!"

"You're pathetic! Fight us fair!"

"Stay with us… we'll look after you…"

"It's you're fault Kazu's dead… Kenta…"

"No it's not! Stop it!"

"Henry… Jenrya…"

"Why can't you look after your little sister better…?"

"No! Go away!"

Henry fell to his knees in the sand, clutching his head and shaking in terror. "I'm not like that!"

"Come back…"

"Come home…"

"Stop it!" Takato roared, running over to Henry and Terriermon. "Henry, they're just digimon! We can fight them!"

"Why didn't you watch out for her Takato…?"

"Where's Jeri, Takato…?"

Fearful, Takato raised his head and looked around for his girlfriend. She and Calumon were by the water too, caught in the confusion just like Kira and Suzi. "Takato!" She screamed.

More Scubamon rushed forwards and grabbed Takato and Henry, Terriermon was picked up by both his ears, and Guilmon roughly handled towards the water. "Let us go!" Guilmon's cries joined the others

Ryo turned and dashed towards Rika and Renamon, grabbing her hand tightly. "We can't let them separate us!" He said.

Rika nodded. "We've got to do something! The others are going to drown!" A ring of Scubamon surrounded them, harpoons pointed inwards to create a ring of steel points. Through the fog hovering out on the ocean, Rika caught sight of a huge, ominous black silhouette. "Ryo…" She whispered. He looked automatically where her gaze led him, at the dark figure.

Cyberdramon lashed out behind them, brushing Scubamon aside like leaves. "Keep them close!" He growled at Renamon.

She nodded and turned to Rika. "We have to hurry." Ryo snapped out of his reverie and followed the trail Cyberdramon was plowing through the Scubamon, still holding Rika's hand protectively. Renamon followed the two Tamers, hoping to protect the rear. She was swarmed by a score of Scubamon. "Rika!"

Rika whipped around to help her digimon, Ryo felt the jerk on his arm and stopped too. "Cyberdramon! Come back!" He yelled. Oblivious, his digimon kept storming towards the Tamers and the water.

"NO!"

"Let us go!"

"Hel – "

Abruptly, the yelling stopped. The only sound on the barren beach was the surf, smoothing the sand flat in its endless cycle. Renamon was gone, Cyberdramon was gone, all of them were gone. Ryo's grip tightened almost painfully on Rika's hand, and he slowly pulled her closer towards him, wrapping one arm around her waist. There was a whispered conference between some of the Scubamon, and the ring of steel dispersed, all of the finned digimon retreating back into the ocean.

Once they were all completely out of sight, no ripples or bubbles left on the surface of the water, Ryo pulled Rika into a fierce hug. Rika wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder, biting her lip to keep from saying anything at all. The finality of it hit them, there wasn't anybody else left.

At the edge of the trees, Tueno smiled.

---

It was everywhere, the water. Suffocating, silky smooth against his skin. _No! No it's not my fault that Kazu's dead! I won't let you hurt anyone else!_ He kicked, thrashed in the waters embrace. It didn't feel like there were any Scubamon restraining him anymore, he felt light, as if he were drifting. Beside him he heard Suzi scream, bubbles rushing out of her mouth and nose. She was drowning.

_No!_

_Come to our Kingdom… come to our palace…_

_You're killing them! Stop it! Stop hurting them!_

Henry was just sinking, he didn't know how to swim. He could see his sister a little ways above him as she screamed under the water. "NO SUZI!" He cried. The remaining air he had left in his lungs floated up to the surface.

Kira and Meiko had managed to grab hands, Oollamon was floating not far from Guilmon and Terriermon, Calumon was kicking, trying to fight his way to the surface.

_I can't let them die! I have to do something!_

_They're coming home… they're going home…_

_None of them are happy in the world…_

Jeri's eyes were wild and scared, brown wells of panic. Takato spotted Jeri, and the expression on his face was so, incredibly sad that Kenta felt himself choke, and try to take in a breath of oxygen. Cellomon and Renamon were thrashing, churning the thick water, a storm of little bubbles coming off Renamon's fur, they watched the little points of silver float to the surface, their lungs desperate for air.

_None of them know what it means to be happy…_

_STOP IT!_

Kenta passed out, his mental battle with the Scubamon wearing him beyond consciousness. To his left, Suzi coughed up water and took in a breath of air…


	16. Cleared

From the last chapter…

Once they were all completely out of sight, no ripples or bubbles left on the surface of the water, Ryo pulled Rika into a fierce hug. Rika wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder, biting her lip to keep from saying anything at all. The finality of it hit them, there wasn't anybody else left.

At the edge of the trees, Tueno smiled.

Ch. 16

Rika could feel Ryo's ragged breathing against the back of her neck; feel his heart hammering in hurt, and rage, and loss. Her own hands were balled into fists, and the grip she had around his shoulders was slowly making her fingers tingle with lack of blood.

"Ho… holy shit…" Ryo whispered, squeezing his eyes closed, and he hugged her tighter.

Rika ran her teeth across her lip again, she wanted to tell him it would be ok, that the others were fine, that no matter how bad it looked right then, everyone would be alright when it was said and done. She pressed herself against him, wanting to relieve the pressure that felt like it was crushing her from the inside out. She didn't know what to say, because she couldn't guarantee that everything would be ok, that he wouldn't hurt anymore. That he would ever truly stop hurting. She sighed. "We need to find food, and we need to get out of here." Her whisper drifted out along the abandoned beach, the tracks of struggle in the sand slowly being washed away by the muted blue and grey surf

He nodded, feeling like he'd just relived a portion of his life he had never wanted to even think about ever again. "Ok… lets… let's go then." He took in a rough gulp of air and regained his composure, wanting Rika to see him acting at least kind of normal, hoping that if he could do that she'd be less afraid. They let one another go, and without looking at the ocean behind them started towards the woods.

---

It had been hours, and they hadn't seen a single other living thing. It made the going easier without any swamp bugs, but there weren't any birds, squirrels, people… anything. The whole situation was making the pair jumpy and nervous. They'd passed a few houses, but they were either completely ransacked or had something deceased outside them, placed there like some sort of gory warning to passers-by. The gloomy grey rectangles of down-town loomed ahead, and so that was the direction they headed, hoping to find an abandoned supermarket or bakery where they could get something to eat.

As they neared the empty shells of the buildings Rika realized how close they were to where Takato's house should have been, it was far closer then anything either or them knew down town, and the grey structures loomed forebodingly ahead of them.

"Ryo." Rika started quietly. "Takato's house isn't far from here, his mom and dad are always bringing home extra baking..."

Ryo looked like he was seriously considering the idea, and then a dark scowl appeared on his face. "I'm all for finding food, but what if his house is like… that one…" He jerked his head at the house behind Rika. She turned to see what he was talking about and stopped dead in her tracks. Someone's upper body was draped out a window on the second level of the home, the flower bed under the window was covered in shreds of another being's remains, and the family cat had been nailed to the front door by its tail.

Rika swallowed, squeaking a little in the horror of what she saw. "Well…" She said, her voice cracking shrilly. "Then at least we'll know, and… we'll have found something to take from a pantry… or maybe one of Takato's sweaters…"

Ryo put his hands on her shoulders and steered them both away from the particularly trashed home. "Ok, I'm just saying that it could be… not what we really want to see, that's all."

She nodded, taking his hand in hers. "We'll beat Tueno."

---

Ryo stomach rumbled as they came up to Takato's home, there wasn't anything dead outside where they could see, and accept for the broken windows, the house seemed mostly in order. He looked at Rika to confirm that they really were prepared to do what they'd originally decided. She squeezed his hand, and they started towards the door.

It swung open easily, the light switch to the left of the door frame forced a light in the kitchen to flicker on, the open doorway letting more grey light illuminate the front hall. Oldies music drifted out of the kitchen from the radio that had been knocked to the floor. Still holding Ryo's hand, Rika padded into the kitchen and glanced around. It was in relatively good shape, two pies cooling on the counter next to the broken jar of flour. Ryo tugged the fridge door open and peeked inside; two tall bottles of a fizzy drink were sitting on the rack just inside the door, he decided to grab two cans of iced tea instead, and the jug of water.

Food set out on the counter in front of them, Rika smiled at Ryo and produced two forks out of a drawer. He let her hand drop out of his and silently accepted a fork. They didn't bother sitting down at the table, merely dropping to sit cross-legged with their backs to the cupboards under the counter and devour their food. Neither said a word, but as more of the two apple pies disappeared, the more life the pair began to show again. Rika giggled at the small mountain of crumbs Ryo had collected in his lap, drawing a smile out of him.

Food finished, they put the dishes in the sink out of habit and headed upstairs to look for warmer clothing. In Takato's closet Ryo found them both shirts and jackets, while Rika checked her friends chest of drawers for a pair of full-length pants and a belt. Clothes found, they met on Takato's bed, sitting on the edge and deciding what to do next.

"You know what I want most?" Rika smiled to herself, amused.

Ryo raised his eyebrows. "No, what?"

"A shower. More then anything else right now I want to be clean, and not covered in other peoples' blood."

He grinned. "Makes sense. You want to go first?"

She poked him, a devil-may-care smile on her face. "You saying you want one too?"

He tackled her, laughing and pinning her to the floor. "Maybe I do… maybe I'll take the shower and keep it all to myself so you just have to stay dirty."

"Ryo!" She cried, trying to sit up. "Hey! That's not fair! I came up with the idea! Who do you think you are Akiyama?" She teased, wiggling and struggling in his grasp. "Let me up you!"

He pretended to think about it for a second. "Hm… no… I don't think I will. Shower's mine!" Without warning he sprang up, grabbed some of the clothes on the bed and raced down the hall towards the bathroom.

Rika sat up, glaring at the empty door frame. "Cheater!" She stood up and crossed her arms, glaring at the door once more before dropping herself onto the bed and deciding that perhaps it would be alright to take a nap.

It took Ryo about 15 minutes to wash all the grime, blood and sand off, he hadn't realized just how thoroughly the dirt had been ground into him. Feeling clean, rested and properly full for the first time in days he climbed out of the shower and toweled himself dry. He pulled on some of the clothes they'd borrowed from Takato, but as he reached for the shirt his fingers found a second pair of jeans. "Great." He rolled his eyes and picked up the jeans, sauntering out of the bathroom and back to Takato's room. "Rika – " He stopped mid-sentence as he caught sight of Rika through the open door. She was curled up on her friends' bed, using the two shirts as extra padding for the pillow. "Of course she's asleep," he rolled his eyes, "and I'm going to feel guilty for waking her up."

He took a few quick strides over to the edge of the bed and sat down, gently running his palm across her arm to wake her up. "Rika… Rika wake up, you've got the shirt I need, the clean shirt, the clean shirt I'm borrowing from Takato." She stirred a little, inching towards his voice. He grinned, _that's cute, she'd kill me if I told her that, but that's cute. _He traced patterns on her arm. "Rika, it's your turn to shower, and change into clean clothes, and give me a shirt."

She rolled over. "… and if I don't give you your shirt because you took the shower first?" A catty smile was playing at her lips, and one of her eyebrows was raised.

Ryo sighed. "I'm cold though…"

She sat up and rested her chin on his shoulder, pulling one of the shirts off the pillow and setting it in his lap. "Well, that's what you get for stealing the shower from me." She smiled and lightly placed a kiss on his neck, just under his ear. "I'm going to go get clean." Rika snagged the other shirt and made her way to the bathroom, shutting the door, and leaving Ryo sitting on the edge of the bed with a funny little smile on his face as he pulled the long-sleeved red shirt on over his head.

---

Both of them clean, full, and relatively content considering their entire situation, the pair decided to go to where Guilmon's old hide-out was in the park. Everything leading to the digital world had always started in the park, or some other natural area. They'd looked through the front closet at Takato's and found a small shoulder bag, and in the light brown bag they'd packed up two apples, some of the spiced bread buns, left over rice, and even a bit of left over pork that was still good. Each was wearing a borrowed sweater and pair of jeans. Ryo had on a red long sleeved shirt, and Rika a white and black 3/4 sleeved shirt she'd found in Ms. Matsuda's chest of drawers. Over all, they found themselves kind of sad to leave the house, even if it had been rather battered.

The walk to the park went by quickly, and it didn't feel like much time had passed at all when they reached the small cement room Guilmon had used. They stood in front of the gate, just looking at it. "S'been a while, hadn't it?"

Rika nodded. "Feels like ages since then, feels like all the problems we ran into then were so much easier to deal with now that they've been lived through."

They stood in silence for a while, just remembering. Neither made a sound, each trying to push aside the painful memories that were all too recent and vivid. Ryo shook his head. "We should figure out what to do next."

Rika looked around at the trees, fog was hanging everywhere like a thick, misty grey curtain. "We should find something alive, haven't you noticed? There aren't even bugs." She paused. "Not that that's a bad thing, but really, we haven't run into anything at all. That worries me."

Behind them, slinking through the low greenery, Tueno let a smug grin settle onto its' weasel-like features. _And then there were two…_ it hadn't been easy getting rid of everything alive, he was pleased that the blue Tamer recognized such a thing as dangerous. It had taken a while, perhaps 18 hours to clear such a large area with nothing but Scubamon and other such devoted digimon. Tueno had even let a few humans stay and help, some that he had taken a particular liking to. All the same, these two were a special delicacy, they would be his.

"It's unnerving, you're right; but what do we do about it?" Ryo said, not mentioning the absence of Cyberdramon and Renamon, or anyone else.

Rika thought for a minute. "We wait. Tueno will come to us, it started this, so it will try and finish this."

Tueno's grin widened into a smile, and it slipped out onto the path behind the two Tamers. "There is no need to wait." They whipped around with little cries of surprise, just as they caught a glimpse he flicked back and changed position, on top of the hide-out now. "Surprised?" He snickered, flicking away again as the pair whirled to face him.

"You're pathetic!" Rika cried in frustration. "Scared of us or something? Why won't you stand still and show yourself properly?"

Tueno smiled, re-appearing around them to accent his next sentence. "Why would I do that? That's far… too… simple…" The voice came from everywhere at once, making the fog ring with his laughter.

Ryo and Rika stood back-to-back on the cement path, glaring at the trees bordering them. "Come out Tueno!" Ryo yelled. "What do you want now?"

Like black lightening, Tueno flashed across the path, sailing on a downwards angle. As he passed Ryo's face, a single, whispered word penetrated the fog. "Her…"

---

She coughed up water, dizzy, her chest hur, as if something had been crushing the air out of her. The first breath of air was painful, almost enough that she didn't try for another. The third started to fight off the dizziness, and by the seventh her vision was beginning to swim back into clarity. She stayed as she was for a while, gasping, her breathing slowly returning to a normal rate. Once she felt slightly better, she opened her eyes and twisted her head, trying to see if anyone else was around. It seemed as if they were contained in a bubble of air, still under water, with no gravity. Kenta and Takato were near the centre of the bubble, Henry right at the bottom, Renamon near the edge opposite Cyberdramon. Kira was just starting to come around not far from Kenta and Takato. Overall, the situation seemed to be improving. Jeri smiled to herself, and gently jostled Calumon into consciousness. "Hey… Calumon, wake up."

The little digimon coughed water and then came around abruptly, trying to sit up in the strange environment. "Wh… where are we? What happened? Aren't we dead?"

Jeri laughed quietly at his wakening comments. "I don't think we're dead, I think… well I think we're in a bubble."

Below them Henry groaned and opened his eyes, looking around confusedly. "Did… Suzi!" His troubled face broke into a relieved smile at seeing his sister as she responded to her name.

She grinned. "We're ok!" Lopmon hugged her Tamer's arm fiercely. As each of the Tamers came into full alertness, ideas began to be exchanged as to how they'd managed to come by the bubble they were all in. Kenta was the only one still completely unconscious.

"I think it's got quite a bit to do with him," Meiko stated, brow wrinkled a little as she thought. "Can anyone reach his D-arc?"

Suzi 'swam' through the air the few feet to the boy, his D-arc was clutched in his left hand, and after a few moments of prying at his fingers, it came loose. "There's a picture on the screen of some kind…" She said, and then sent it towards Kira and Meiko.

Kira caught it, looking at the symbol that glowed on the screen. "I think it's his crest, or the rough equivalent." She pulled her cobalt Digivice out of her jacket pocket. "My crest isn't on my screen, any ideas what it means?"

Meiko accepted Kenta's D-arc from Kira. "They tend to glow when they're active, don't they? Only for a moment at a time though, say, while a digimon is using it to digivolve. Why it would glow like this for longer then that…" She trailed off, shrugging her shoulders.

Takato looked down at Henry. "You told us about those things, crests." He looked kind of pensive for a moment. "They sure haven't done a lot to help us so far, at least not with us knowing about it."

Henry shook his head. "Rika's crest saved her life, and I think Kenta's is keeping all of us alive right now."

Kira and Meiko looked at one-another, confused. "Henry…" Meiko asked slowly, "what exactly is Kenta's crest?"

The Chinese boy looked over at the pair. "Kenta's crest is life." Terriermon nodded his agreement, confirming his Tamers' statement.

Kira's eyes widened. "If one person is using everything they've got to keep 13 others alive, it can't last indefinitely, we need to get ourselves out of this situation _right now._ We don't know what this is costing him."

The Tamers all nodded, glancing at the unconscious Kenta. Marineangemon looked sleepily up from where he was by Kenta. "I can get us out, I can de-digivolve."

Jeri nodded. "That's right, you're a Mega most of the time, aren't you?"

Marineangemon nodded, eyes drooping shut momentarily. In Meiko's hand Kenta's D-arc glowed brighter, covering everyone in the bubble in a pearly light. Marineangemon started getting larger, and larger, and larger. "Stop!" Takato yelled. "Stop! You're going to pop the bubble!"

"Hang on tight! Grab onto my back!" Cried the large digimon, still growing bigger, and in the middle of his digiovlution.

Henry frantically kicked, not knowing how to swim up and grab on. Kira 'swam' strongly down towards him. "Don't let got of the back of my jacket, ok?" Henry nodded. Kira checked to make sure the Oollamon and Terriermon were with them, and then made her way up to the back of the de-digivolving digimon.

Jeri and Takato took a head count, making sure that everyone was indeed tangled in the shaggy brown fur sprouting up beneath them. It wasn't a full second after they'd finished counting that the bubble, already stretched to its limits holding in the new digimon, popped. Water gushed in all around the Tamers, tugging at their heavy clothes and trying to tear them from the back of their rescuer. Renamon held the unconscious Kenta in one arm, Cyberdramon sheltering the pair as best he could from the brunt of the waters force. Suzi almost panicked for a second as the cold water hit her face, the instinctive panic of someone thrown back into the element that had been a death sentence not long ago.

They burst to the surface, everyone taking in deep, gulping lung-fulls of air. Zudamon reared his head, hammer held in one massive paw. "Are you all still there? On the back of my neck?"

Takato regained his composure, taking a second to really look at the digimon. Huge grey-plated shell covered Zudamon's back, the scale of the creature was gigantic, and all the Tamers and digimon fit with plenty of extra room on the back of his neck, just behind his ears, in front of the shell. "We're all here Zudamon, let's find land!"

---

Ryo stopped breathing, for what seemed like eternity the word echoed in his head. 'Her'. He reached for Rika behind him, groping desperately for her hand. "No!"

Tueno finished sailing past Ryo's face, landing silently on the grass and disappearing into the fog again. He had no reason to request Rika specifically, other then that she had single-handedly defeated Landersmon. What he did know was that she, the blue Tamer, could cause an extreme amount of damage to the silver Tamer if she were suddenly… not there. Rika reached back for Ryo's hand just as Tueno flew back across the path in front of her. She hardly had time to take in a breath to yell before her feet left the cement pathway.

"Rika!" Ryo whipped himself in a full circle, looking for her. 'Her'. _Why? Why does he want her!_ "Rika!"

---

Zudamon reached land in under five minutes, the ocean was his territory, the water his kingdom. The swarms of Scubamon had seen the huge digimon coming at them on the beach, and had hastily scattered. As soon as the teens had clamored off his neck, he de-digivolved completely into Bukomon, and collapsed into the sand, asleep. Kenta sat up dozily in Renamon's arms. "What's… happening?"

Meiko looked up at Renamon. "Do you mind carrying him for a while? He's completely drained." Renamon shook her head. "Thanks."

Henry made the next observation. "I have a very, very bad feeling, and I think we should try and find Ryo and Rika right now, no waiting. Renamon and Cyberdramon are here, so it's not like they've got a lot of protection."

Kira grinned. "Meiko, I think we can provide a lift."

Her friend grinned back at her. "I knew there had to be a reason we're here, it's not like we've been a huge help up until now."

"Oollamon, digivolve!"

"Cellomon, digivolve!"

Suzi wasted no time in catching up. "Lopmon, Matrix digivolve!"

Oollamon was engulfed in flames, leaping out the top, eyes smoldering like embers. Roughly one and a half times the size of Kyubimon, Sierramon's paws were still lit with fire and she still had her tiger's coat. The fur on her cheeks was flicked back and formed into black spikes, a plate of black armor covered her forehead, and two more plates covered her shoulders. Her fangs extended enough that even with her mouth closed, they could be seen peeking out over her bottom lip. "Yeah!" Kira cheered.

Cellomon seemed to dissipate into the shadows playing across the ground from the flames Oollamon had been covered in, she emerged out of nothing with fierce green eyes. The same size as Sierramon, Tanzamon was black, a pair of silver ribbons sprouting from her shoulder blades. Gauntlet-like gloves appeared on her front paws, the same silver as the ribbons. "Woot!" Meiko laughed, happy to see her digivolved partner again.

Lopmon digivolved into Antylamon, giving her Tamer a rare smile. Suzi smiled right back at her.

Sierramon and Tanzamon crouched long enough for the Tamers to climb up onto their backs. Bukomon was picked up by Antylamon, and Suzi was placed on the shoulders of her digimon. "Lets go!"

Henry laughed, and Takato called from Sierramon's back: "Hey! That's my line!"

---

Rika felt her feet hit a solid surface again, the top of Guilmon's hideout. "Ryo!" She cried, twisting frantically, trying to wriggle out of Tueno's grip. She stepped backwards, her foot only half on the edge of the roof. "Let me go!" As she pushed herself backwards she fell off, flailing in the air for a second before coming down on Ryo. His knees gave out and the pair hit the cement path like a ton of bricks.

Ryo had hardly hit the ground when he rolled over and covered Rika, sheltering her from the hail of gravel and other small debris that came down from the roof. He took a moment to cough and catch his breath, registering that it was his bad leg that had given out. He stood up, and pulled Rika to her feet close behind him, his hand tightly gripping her wrist. "Done yet?" Ryo yelled, his voice slightly hoarse, more of his weight on his good leg.

Tueno disappeared from the rooftop. "Of course not, haven't you figured out which of you dies first?"

---

s/k: Well, there we are, another chapter done. Only one more to go!


	17. Retaliation

From the last chapter…

Ryo had hardly hit the ground when he rolled over and covered Rika, sheltering her from the hail of gravel and other small debris that came down from the roof. He took a moment to cough and catch his breath, registering that it was his bad leg that had given out. He stood up, and pulled Rika to her feet close behind him, his hand tightly gripping her wrist. "Done yet?" Ryo yelled, his voice slightly hoarse, more of his weight on his good leg.

Tueno disappeared from the rooftop. "Of course not, haven't you figured out which of you dies first?"

Ch. 17  


Suzi's hair had long ago come out of its two traditional pigtails, and at the speed the five digimon were moving, the wind whipping through her hair felt refreshing, like she was alive for the first time in days. She leaned down enough to talk into one of Antylamon's ears. "Any guesses how much farther? Henry looks really, really worried."

Antylamon shook her head. "I don't know, I'm sorry Suzi."

Meiko, Henry, Terriermon and Calumon came up parallel to Anytlamon, Suzi and Bukomon, Meiko and Henry wearing two of the most serious expressions Suzi had seen throughout their entire adventure. "We're close." Henry called to the group, on top of Cyberdramon, Takato and Guilmon nodded.

Meiko turned her head just enough that she could talk to him. "That dark spore… you're somehow connected to Tueno and the dark digimon now, aren't you?"

Terriermon rested his head on his Tamers' shoulder, listening intently. "I think so, it would make sense." He shook his head. "I don't know how else it could be explained, Tueno just _is_ nearby, and the Scubamon just need to be asked for information a certain way, that's all."

Meiko nodded grimly, letting the topic drop. In her lap, Calumon looked up. "Is everything gonna be ok Meiko-chan? Is everyone going to be alright?"

The Tamer bit her lip, trying to give herself time to think. Tanzamon glanced back at her, giving her the slightest little nod. Meiko smiled weakly, "of course Calumon, it'll all end right, somehow."

---

Rika caught Tueno's movement out of the corner of her eye, a black shadow coming out of the trees right at them. "Ryo move!" She yelled, trying to warn him. He turned his back to the oncoming threat, wrapping Rika in his arms, putting himself between the threat and her. It wasn't an action that had been thought through, it was just a reaction. "No!"

Tueno's claws sliced cleanly through Ryo's side. It seemed to happen in slow motion, he screamed, arms at first tightening, then going slack around her waist, and he started to overbalance, falling forwards. The blood followed Tueno's path through the air, snaking out in a straight line behind him. Rika turned and caught Ryo under his arms before he hit the ground, her eyes wide in fear and shock. Ryo's cobalt eyes rolled up to look at her, his teeth grinding together to stop himself from crying out. His resolution didn't last very long.

---

"Aaaaaiiiiih!"

Ryo's cry of pain stopped the envoy dead in its tracks. "Oh… oh no…" Kira whispered. As if the quiet sounds were a gunshot, the five digimon sprang to the right, traveling as fast as they physically could. Cyberdramon let out a roar of anger, announcing the group as they tore towards the park.

Renamon was only just quick enough to grab Rika under one arm and move before Tueno came back for her. Cyberdramon was right behind Renamon, hardly giving Takato and Guilmon time to jump off before he blew into Tueno like the creature wasn't even there. With a yelp of surprise he was shot backwards into the hideout, hitting the concrete back wall. As Tanzamon, Sierramon and Antylamon came flying around the bend there were cries of; 'Ryo!' 'Rika!' 'Are you guys alright?' and 'Where's Tueno!'

The Tamers leaped off and ran over to where Rika was, with Ryo. "Tanzamon! You and Sierramon try and look after whatever this other thing is! We're going to help Ryo and Rika!"

Tanzamon and Sierramon nodded curtly, bounding over the heads of the Tamers to join Renmon and Cyberdramon where they faced the opening of the hideout. From within came a guttural chuckle that made the hairs on the back of everyone's neck stand up. The small concrete room amplified the laugh, making it pour out of the door and fade away in the thick fog. "You think…" He laughed darkly, strolling out into the weak light. "You think that you can just say: "Go get it guys, go defeat the nasty Tueno." And I will go away? I will leave you 'Tamers' to continue your pleasant little game with your pets?"

A maniacs' smile was pasted on his face, the matte black fur making it look as if he were nothing but a pair of shiny black eyes in the open doorway. "You think you can just tell them to do something, and it will be done? Taken care of while you see to something more important?" Tueno's voice lowered dangerously, acquiring an edge to it. "That's the problem with you, all of you, every one of you that's ever had something to do with the digital world. You look at the Digimon Emperor and say he was wrong, you take one glance at those who faced you down and turn, smirking, saying that they were wrong." Tueno flickered away, fading into the darkness, disappearing into his fog. "I am here to tell you, Tamers, you who do not know the meaning behind what you call yourselves, that it is you who are wrong!"

Kira and Meiko exchanged a nervous glance at the mention of the Digimon Emperor, they'd seen the destruction he'd left in the digital world, and once watched as he'd dangled illusions of one boys' friends over a gaping canyon. It had been an experience neither of them had soon forgotten.

Ryo was bleeding heavily, creating a small pool of crimson beneath the cut. Little winces and whimpers of pain could be heard forcing their way out of him as Rika applied pressure with the sweater she'd borrowed from Takato, hoping furiously that the bleeding would die down. She ran her fingers across his forehead, wiping away a few beads of cold sweat that had appeared there. "Sh… it's ok Ryo, it's ok, it'll be alright."

Tueno sliced through the air by Renamon, leaving a thin, precise cut running across her cheek. "The fox is a domestic pooch." Next he flew between Tanzamon and Sierramon, neatly leaving three slashes apiece on their flanks. The pair let out aggravated hisses at the threat. "The tiger and the panther are pussy cats!" He snarled, whipped his tail sharply across Guilmons' nose, then danced into view a moment before whirling into Antylamon and Cyberdramon. "A bunny and a baby boogie-man!" Tueno sounded absolutely livid, slipping right through the centre of the group of Tamers and snatching up Calumon and Terriermon by their ears. "A hamster!" He cried, flinging Terriermon away, and then turning to Calumon. "Don't even get me started on you. You _call _yourself a digimon, but can you digivolve? Do you have a Tamer to _serve_? NO! You simply hold a power that they need!"

Antylamon struck before anyone could blink. "A _bunny_, Tueno?" She hissed, scaring even Suzi enough to grab her brothers' hand. "I was a Deva!" She snarled, he tried to dodge, and she struck him again, lightning fast. "Yet you dare to strut into the digital world, the real world," her foot snapped into his middle, "to merge them with another that would destroy them!" Antylamon gathered herself, for one more attack.

Tueno ducked under Antylamon's arm as it lashed out, slashing at her open mid-section, and delivering a nasty blow to her lower jaw, forcing her to de-digivolve into Lopmon. "You may have been a Deva, but you've gotten soft, you're domesticated." Cyberdramon turned and launched himself at Tueno with a roar of rage. Tueno quickly side-stepped him, shredding the flesh on his legs and then smashing into the larger digimon's forehead hard enough to make him de-digivolve him to Monodramon. "Like I said, a baby boogie-man."

Renamon didn't say a word, she just looked at Rika, who nodded. "Jeri." She said quietly, "look after Ryo for a minute, kay?" Jeri nodded, and Rika stood up, looking over at Kira, Meiko, Henry, Takato and finally at Calumon, still held in Tueno's claws. "I think we need to knock this thing on its ass." She stated coldly, eyes narrowed in loathing. The three other Tamers nodded, chancing glances at Ryo and Kenta, both lying on the cool pathway breathing shallowly.

Kira locked her pale hazel gaze with Rika's fierce violet one, fire smoldering in her eyes. "Let's knock this guy on his ass."

There wasn't any hesitation, D-arcs and digivices were raised in one hand, and all at once came the calls for digimon to step up to the next level.

"Renamon, biomerge!"

"Terriermon, biomerge!"

"Guilmon, biomerge!"

"Tanzamon, Armour digivolve!"

"Sierramon, Armour digivolve!"

Tanzamon raised herself onto her hind paws, the ribbons at her shoulder split, some twining around her arms to create brushed steal arm guards, the others flicking out to make a double set of feathered silver wings. A cross bow materialized into her waiting paws, and a quiver was made by the final strands of the ribbons, resting between the four wings. Vivemon grinned as a silver helmet fitted itself onto her head, it was good to be back.

Sierramon also pushed herself back onto her hind legs, a loose black Samurai's Gi appeared with a black belt that wrapped itself loosely around her hips, a sword and scabbard attached. The black spikes at her cheeks remained but the face armor flecked away. Samuramon smirked at Tueno, they stood the same height, perhaps a little taller then Renamon. Samuramon drew her katanna from its sheath with the faint ring of folded steel.

Sakuyamon and Megagargomon flanked Gallantmon, Samuramon crouched just ahead of their feet, Vivemon perched on Meagargomons' shoulder with an arrow knocked in her crossbow. The five looked very threatening in the pearly fog. Vivemon released her arrow with a shout, and the other four almost seemed to vanish they moved so fast, surrounding Tueno on all sides. Tueno snarled as he side-stepped the arrow and it buried its tip into the ground. "Do you think you can defeat me, Tamers! Do you seriously think that you stand a chance with four of your number down and out?"

Somewhere, farther off, Jeri fancied she could hear people shouting, running through the park. She shook her head and listened closer. No, if they were really there, the sounds were now being covered by the fighting. Calumon let out a squeak of terror and the noise of the battle froze. Tueno smirked, holding the little digimon up by one large ear with a set of three claws aimed at his face. "Still feel like fighting, or do you want to give up?"

Samuramon was directly behind Tueno, and so used this to her advantage. Without a sound she flew forwards, flipping with a twist over Tueno's head and bringing her katana down on his claws. The steal went through bone like a hot knife through butter, with the immediate threat to Calumon gone, she lunged, trying to pierce his stomach. She went right through him, as if he were a cloud. "What?"

Tueno laughed. "Surprised?" Samuramon's eyes widened in realization of what was about to happen. The strike was more then she'd expected, a single blow to her side that sent her through the forest, taking out trees as she went.

"Samuramon!" Kira cried.

Vivemon flinched, and Sakuyamon and Megagargomon glanced at one another. Gallantmon narrowed his eyes in frustration, Tueno seemed too small to have that much force behind a single blow; but then again, he had forced two other high-level digimon to de-digivolve with only a few blows. "I guess that leaves the four of you, doesn't it?" The three claws Samuramon had sliced off slipped out and lengthened, re-growing.

Kira dashed off into the forest, following the trail of broken trees to find Samuramon. Meiko watched as her friend vanished into the fog with a sinking feeling in her stomach. She gritted her teeth. "Hit him together! All at once if you can!"

There wasn't any discussion, Gallantmon, Sakuyamon, Megagargomon and Vivemon came at the sleek black creature from four different sides, hitting their target with such a force that a wave of displaced air washed back over Meiko, Ryo, Kenta, Jeri, Marineangemon and Monodramon. When the digimon sprang back to their chosen fighting stances, a cloud of dust and cement bits had risen, and they had to wait, tense and frozen like statues until it cleared.

"Hehehe," Came the soft sound of a chuckle, it became louder and louder until it echoed despite the fog. "Is that all you've got?" Tueno shrieked as the dust settled around him, smirking.

Jeri looked up from where she'd been knocked over, tears of frustration in her eyes. _What do we have to do to beat this guy?_ The sounds of a group of people were more real now, it wasn't just something she'd imagined. "Here!" She yelled, staggering to her feet and turning around, trying to pinpoint where the sounds were coming from. "We're here! Over here!"

Tueno laughed shortly. "Who do you think is going to come? What do you think is going to happen to save you?" He threw his head back and almost laughed so hard he couldn't breathe. "Do you not understand, Tamer? _There is nothing here._"

Jeri ignored him, not even turning when he stopped to glare at her, boring holes in her back with his eyes. "We're here! We're here!" She was rewarded when a group of five adults came racing out of the trees. Meiko couldn't help but stare. "Kari? Dad?" She looked at the others. "Mr. Ichijouji… Mr. Ishida… Ms. Ishida…" She sat down in shock on the cracked pathway. "What… what's… ?" Tueno could only stare.

Kira came back through the path in the forest holding a small Nyaromon in her arms just as the five adults arrived. She locked eyes with Mr. Ishida. "What…?" Then she registered the other four, all of the adults were panting, as if they'd just run a great distance.

Jeri turned and faced Tueno, still penned in by Tanzamon, Sakuyamon and Megagargomon, a triumphant grin on her face, because with the five adults were five digimon. Meiko could only watch in astonishment as her aunt whipped out a D-3, just like Kira's and her own. "Gatomon, digivolve!"

"Gabumon, warp digivolve!"

"Augmon, warp digivolve!"

"Wormon, digivolve!"

"Biyomon, warp digivolve!"

Now Tueno looked a little wary, in a neat circle around him stood Gallantmon, Sakuyamon, Megagargomon, Vivemon, Angewoman, Metalgarurumon, Wargreymon, Stingmon and Garudamon. Calumon's eyes were wide as he took in the new digimon, "wow…" he whispered in awe.

"Vivemon," Angewoman said, her voice smooth and clear. "Notch and arrow." Vivemon didn't question the angel digimon, drawing an arrow that began to glow with a black aura as she knocked it in place. Angewoman drew her own arrow out of nothing, glowing a pale pink and white. Waiting for a moment until all of their energy was concentrated in the arrows, they released them at the same moment.

"Celestial Arrow!"

"Shadows' Fletching!"

The two arrows sliced through Tueno, he dropped Calumon with a light thump, and his eyes grew wide. There was a rush of wind, everyone covering their eyes to keep out the dust. When they peeked at the centre of the ring of digimon stood Tueno. Laughing. "You shoot me with your arrows, you attack me with your best, and it doesn't do anything!" He screamed. "I don't know how digidestined got through my sweep of this town, but you obviously can't defeat me!" Crazily, Tueno turned to Ken. "You can't face and defeat something you created, after all."

Kari's ruby-brown eyes, the same colour as Meiko's, turned to look at Ken Ichijouji. His face was partially hidden by his long black hair, but facial expressions weren't needed to express the shock. "Once an Emperor, always an Emperor." Tueno said in a sing-song voice.

Tai Yagami, Matt Ishida and Sora Ishida all turned to look at Ken, then Kari, confused. Tai was the first to disregard Tueno's taunting. "We'll figure out what he's talking about later, right now we need to get rid of it!" Angewoman smiled as she de-digivolved to a Nyaromon, and Vivemon's de-digivolved form, Kyukomon (small, round, black, with a little cats' tail) was caught by Meiko. Kari's Nyaromon smiled broadly. "Now attack him."

Gallantmon moved first, bringing his sword down where Tueno stood. The steal cleaved the path in two, but Tueno had moved. Garudamon and Metalgarurumon struck at his new location, creating a crater beside Guilmon's old hideout; Tueno disappeared. Stingmon launched a barrage of shots that fell just behind the black creature as he streaked down the path, Wargreymon waited for just a second and then brought his foot down where Tueno's next steps should have taken him; he scampered out of the way just in time.

"Enough of this mockery!" Sakuyamon snarled, she blindsided Tueno with her staff, the first true hit any of them had landed. Gallantmon moved in and sliced downwards with his sword, then let his momentum carry him forwards out of the way. Metalgarurumon passed Gallantmon going the other direction, smashing Tueno towards Garudamon. Garudamon balled her hand into a fist and reflected Tueno downwards with enough for to make a second small crater in the ground. Stingmon swooped in snagged the black creature off the group, trailing him high up into the air and then dropping him. Megaargomon took careful aim and blasted a bolt of energy at him, propelling him finally towards Wargreymon.

"Nova blast!" The ball of energy that Wargreymon deleted Tueno with was fantastic. On the ground, Tai could only stare. The blast went through Tueno, who began to fragment into pieces of data as he fell towards the ground. All that was left was a small, light-consuming black ball no larger then a marble. It fell to the grass in front of Kens' feet, not bouncing or moving as the wind settled.

Slowly, he bent down and picked it, letting it sit in his hand delicately, like some sort of miniature bomb. Dark hair in his face, he stared at it long and hard. "All of this happened… over a single spore…?"

Without warning, there was a rush of silent thunder and a wave almost seemed to run over the ground, separating the three worlds sharply and suddenly. The digidestined, Kira, and Meiko vanished. The Tamers were abruptly transported to the large Sakura tree in the middle of their school field, and the digimon fragmented into data, returning to the digital world.

---

s/k: Alright, I lied, another chapter, and _then_ the epilogue. Not that I think anyone's going to be horrendously disappointed with an extra chapter, but all the same. I know it was probably really confusing when part of the 02 gang came into the story, but Tueno _is_ connected to Ken (read An Angels Wings), and Meiko _is _Tai's daughter (read Hidden in Plain Sight) so I couldn't very well just end it. Either way, another chapter is coming, then epilogue. R&R… please?


	18. Patience

Ch. 18

Rika blinked, the colours were too bright, everything was too bright and too colourful. She clapped her hands over her eyes, waiting for them to adjust. Once she was certain that she wouldn't hurt her eyes if she opened them, she drew her fingers away from her face. The other Tamers were going through a similar process, Takato was sitting with his back to the tree trunk, Jeri sitting somewhat dazedly beside him. Kenta was standing starry-eyed to the couples' right, and Suzi was lying on her back blinking furiously. Ryo wasn't anywhere in sight. Quietly, they took stock of themselves, mostly clean, still scratched and bruised from their adventure. There wasn't anyone else in the field, but there was traffic on the roads, and people, living breathing people walking down the sidewalks.

"What's going on?" Rika asked clearly confused.

Henry shook his head, completely baffled. "I honestly don't know, but… weren't we just - ?"

Takato nodded. "We were, we were just talking to adults, and they had digimon."

"Tueno…" Jeri added. "He was real, we haven't just fallen asleep and missed class, Tueno was real."

Suzi sat up. "The whole thing was real, because we're all still beat-up."

Kenta checked his watch, grey eyes widening to the size of saucers. "I don't get it, it's the same day we left, right down to the minute, it's the same time."

They gathered around and looked at his battered watch. Henry shook his head. "I think…" He started slowly, "I think that we should all go home, and tomorrow, we should all go to Guilmons' old hideout."

Everyone nodded, Rika casting her gaze around once more before they departed. "What… about Ryo?" Her voice was quiet, hardly a whisper.

No one said anything, but silently stood up and started to walk home.

---

Ken, Kari, Tai, Matt, Sora, Meiko and Kira were swept up by and deposited in the living room in Tai's apartment, landing haphazardly on the couch, chairs and floor with thumps. Tai and Matt sat up in unison, demanding: "What just happened?"

The others laughed quietly. "No matter what happens, you guys are too close to not say something at the same time." Ken grinned.

Tai's son, Meiko's older brother, came out of the bathroom and stopped, staring at the unexpected company. He had a striking resemblance to Tai, especially his mad, out of control hair and dark brown eyes. Akira cocked an eyebrow at the adults. "So… nice to see you all…" He said, not sure what else he could be expected to do in this new situation.

The digidestined cracked up, laughing long and hard at the first normal thing they'd seen in days. Kira and Meiko helped everyone to their feet, and soon they were all making arrangements to call over their families and have dinner together; dinner to celebrate the apparent defeat of the dark spore, Tueno. It was an odd atmosphere, people were laughing, smiling, pitching in to make dinner. After the two days or so when the worlds had merged, two days of going back to basic survival, coming back to a routine that they knew was normal felt odd. Everyone was adjusting slowly, but the apartment couldn't quite shake the feeling of distrust.

Ken sidled away from the rest of them, padding quietly out of the kitchen and down the hall to the living room, dropping onto the couch with a sigh. He pulled the black sphere out of his pocket, watching as it refused to reflect any of the light that hit it. "What do I do with you now…?"

Kari leaned silently against the doorframe, watching him as he stared at the dormant spore. After T.K. had died, they had been like one-another's safety nets, someone to fall back on, someone they could rely on no matter what. They'd dated for a while, mistaking the trust for something different, but agreed that perhaps it wasn't how things were meant to work out. He had married Miyako, and the couple had just thrown their youngest child's seventh birthday, a sleep over with a dinosaur cake. As she observed him now from the side, she realized that he was just as mysterious that evening as he had been his whole life. There would always be something that bothered him but no one else. She sighed, and softly crossed the carpet to sit at his side. "What are you going to do with it?" She asked.

Ken shook his head. "I don't know, lock it away, hide it, somewhere no other person could find it, where it can't… evolve like it did." He squeezed his eyes shut, mentally exhausted. "I didn't even know there were new digidestined, I guess I just assumed that it would be our children, and we would be there to help them. They wouldn't have to figure everything out on their own." He paused. "It bothers me that we almost weren't there in time. We were so ill-prepared."

Kari nodded, resting her chin on her hands and leaning forward on the couch, looking off into nothing at the television. "They are, kind of." She mused, referring the his comment about their kids. "Meiko is Tai's second child, Kira distantly related to Gennai, though that has always puzzled me." Ken nodded his agreement with her last statement. "I don't know how they met the other kids, but Tai certainly taught Meiko how to keep her head. I'd like to believe that even if we hadn't made it, they would have found a way to come out on top. We always did."

---

In the kitchen, Meiko had noticed her aunt and Ken slip out of the room, probably to discuss the spore, Tueno, what to do with it. She cast a glance at Kira, who rose from the couch where she'd been chatting with Akira, and went over to her friend. "What's up?"

Meiko jerked her head at the door, and the pair left the bustle of the kitchen, retreating to the guest room Akira was currently borrowing a little further down the hall. They moved a few shirts and a pair of shorts off the bed, and then dropped themselves down onto it, a little island of semi-order in the chaos Akira lived in. "What's on your mind?" Kira asked again.

Meiko sighed, ruby-brown eyes darting to look at the disheveled pillows for a second. "I don't like how it's ending, I don't like that we needed to be 'rescued', and I want to know how Ryo, Henry and the Tamers are doing." She wrung her hands, playing with the bracelet and watch on her left wrist. "I want answers to all the questions we couldn't find answers to in the last 48 hours."

Kira nodded. "I know that feeling." She narrowed her light hazel eyes in thought, some of her long brown hair falling into her face. "Does your dad still have a home office here?" Meiko nodded. "Good, I think I'm going to e-mail Gennai. He'll tell us what we want to know."

---

Rika had arrived home to the open arms of her mother and grandmother, who had spent the day baking, of all things. She vaguely remembered being fed pancakes for breakfast on the day she'd been abducted by Landersmon and Tueno, on the whole, life as a Tamer was simply getting too weird lately. "Hey mom, grandma." Rika smiled automatically as she came through the door, and then headed to her room for a well deserved nap in her own bed.

She'd awoken late, a tired look at her clock had told her that it was past 11, she'd slept almost 12 hours. With a groan, she sat up and crossed her legs. Outside her window, the moon was just starting to wane, casting its pale white light into her room. A dull ache in her core reminded her that she still didn't know what had happened to Ryo, the thought that he'd been transported to a different world in his condition terrified her. Would he have been able to find medical help? Would someone find him? Would he come back? Would he be alright? As the possible places he could be flashed through her mind she felt herself being worked into a panic. What if… what if he was alone somewhere, what if no one found him…

She bit her lip, _he's Ryo, he lived on his own in the digital world for years, he's tough, he's resourceful, he'll be fine… he'll… be fine…_

---

Everything hurt, everywhere; his fingers hurt, his head was pounding, his eyes were sore, and his feet were numb with cold. Everything hurt. Slowly, he opened one eyes to look at the nurse as she adjusted his IV line, _bet that's why my head hurts, _he thought muggily, _I'm really dehydrated. _As he thought this, he noticed how bright all the colours were, and that the sun was forcing light through the blinds on the large window. _Wasn't this bright in… that last place… _

Across the room, another person swaddled in medical equipment and bandages turned his head in his sleep, grunting. A black visor was resting on his bedside table.

Hours later, both boys awoke at roughly the same time, and it was the recognition of locking eyes, cobalt blue and dark brown, that jolted both of them properly awake. "Kazu!" Ryo hissed in disbelief, the blinds had been rolled up and were letting in the light of the almost full moon, illuminating the two teenagers in their beds.

Kazu, one arm in a cast from wrist to shoulder, slowly brought himself up to a sitting position. "Ryo?" He asked, confused. "What… what are we doing here? How did we get here?"

Ryo shook his head, also confused. "I… I have no idea. The last thing I remember clearly is… Rika! Where's Rika!" He cried, suddenly panicked.

His shout alerted one of the nurses, who quickly rushed down the white linoleum hall to room 437. She threw the door open, crossing the small room instantly and catching Ryo's hand before he could pull his IV line out of his arm. "Stop! Akiyama-san, what are you doing? You're not due to check out for another 8 hours _at least! _"

Ryo glared at the nurse, he didn't want to fight her, he didn't want to be rude, he wanted to know if Rika was alright, and where she was, and perhaps how he'd gotten to the hospital in the first place. He took in a long breath, then asked her in a completely civil tone; "Do you have anyone in the hospital as a patient named Rika Nonaka?"

The nurse cautiously let go of his wrists, she was a pretty little thing, perhaps in her early twenties. Wide, rich green eyes watched him carefully, her honey blonde hair pulled back into two pigtails low at the back of her head. She shook her head 'no' slowly. "I don't think so, I've been on-shift since yourself and Shioda-san arrived."

His lips pressed into a thin line, Ryo accepted that answer. "Where did we arrive from?" She looked at him oddly. "No… wait, I mean, was it a car accident? Do you know how we were hurt?"

She walked over to the door, popping her head out and coming back in with two medical charts in hand. "According to this, you were found by people who wished to remain anonymous, and they called an ambulance. You were found separately. I'm sorry, it doesn't say anything else."

More frustrated now, Ryo looked over at Kazu, who simply seemed confused. "Alright, thank you. I'll stay until I am scheduled to check out, don't worry."

The nurse nodded, then exited the room, placing the medical charts back in their plastic holders outside the door. Kazu waited only until she'd closed the door before he spoke. "I don't get it, I was trampled, I was really, really hurt, Kenta was crying, _we weren't in this world_. How did we get here?"

Ryo shrugged, shaking his head in complete loss. "I don't know, we all thought you were dead. Your injuries from Landersmon were… grotesque, from what I understand. Kenta was a real mess, we were all a real mess." He paused, letting Kazu take in the information. "You died." He said shortly. "Dead people stay dead, not that I'm complaining, but by the basic laws that run the world, you can't be here, it's just… not possible."

Kazu nodded. "Don't ask me, maybe when Kenta moved me into the ocean I… I don't know… clung desperately to life and just stayed in a coma for a few days. Either way, I want to know exactly what happened while I was out of commission. Everything."

Ryo sighed, and spotted a pitcher of water with a glass on his nightstand. He poured himself a glass, and drank the whole thing before starting to talk.

---

The following morning, Meiko and Kira woke up on Akira's bed, where they'd finally fallen asleep after the dinner. The plates the Saskatoon pie slices and ice cream had been on were sitting on the floor amidst Akira's clothes, forks neatly on the white plates. There was an alert flashing on the screen of Akira's grey and black laptop, declaring happily: you've got mail!

Kira rolled over and fell off the bed, landing on the floor with a distinct 'thud' that aroused Meiko from her slumber. "Kira…" She drawled, holding in a smile. "You're clumsier then a… a something that's really clumsy."

Kira laughed. "Articulate in the morning, aren't you?" She grinned.

"Shut up you." Meiko giggled, then spotted the message on her brothers' computer screen. "Hey, looks like Gennai responded."

Kira sat up. "Excellent, click on it. I want to know exactly why everything that happened, happened." Meiko nodded, reaching down onto the floor and pulling the computer up next to her. Kira crawled up on to the bed, and they read the reply.

**Hello girls,**

**it's so good to hear from you, even if it is about such a morbid situation. You are, of course completely right in assuming that I have looked into the matters you have asked me about. I'm sorry I could not contact you with this information sooner. For example, before the events had occurred.**

**To your first question, the answer is yes. The Tamer Henry is fine, and his group of friend are also fairing well. Ryo, however, I had to find in the park, I called an ambulance for him, he is at the hospital now and under the best of care with your friend Sarah, she went to high school with you if I remember correctly. She's taking her medical degree in town here.**

**To your second question, the safest way to dispose of the dormant dark spore is to have Ken send it to me via e-mail. I'm sure that Izzy would be happy to show him how to accomplish that.**

Kira and Meiko looked at one another incredulously. "Mr. Izumi… he's part of this too?" Meiko said incredulously.

Kira laughed, "Just watch, next I bet he'll tell us that Mimi and Micheal over in America know about digimon too!"

Meiko raised her eyebrows. "Think it's possible? It'd explain why they've all stayed such good friends…"

Kira shook her head, long hair swishing over her shoulders. "No way, Mimi… she's a little… up in the clouds, if you know what I mean. There's no way she was a digidestined." Meiko shrugged and they returned to reading the e-mail.

**Once I have the spore, I will pass it on to Azulongmon, he and the other four Guardians have a special place for such things as that.**

**The third question has a rather lengthy explanation, to say the least. Yes, in fact your father was one of the original Chosen Children. There are digidestined all over the world, your friend Ayami has met some others in Britain. Back to the point though, Miyako, Izzy, Mimi, Cody, Davis, Micheal and the five other adults who came to your aid all had their own adventures in the digital world. There was another member named Takeru Takaishi, he passed away long before you were born.**

The girls were torn between laughing at the involvement of Mimi and Micheal, and the sadness of the boy Takeru.

**To your next question I answer yes again. The Tamers have always had crests, all those who are digidestined, or Tamers, or Chosen Children. It doesn't matter, but every one of you has a crest for a reason, and it will come into play at some point during your adventures. An individual may not be aware of their crest, but it does not matter, they are a part of you, and only a tool used to help digimon digivolve in the case of the original digidestined.**

**The last question is actually very simple to answer. Time runs differently in all three worlds, when they were merged together, you could say the effect was similar to freezing time, in a sense. No counted time passed in any of the worlds because they had become a new, single world. Thus, until they were separated, no time passed.**

**I have to go now, other things to do. I hope I managed to answer your questions to a satisfactory level, and have a good day Kira.**

**Gennai**

Kira nodded. "He certainly answered our questions."

Meiko smiled. "Yeah, it's good to have answers."

---

"Why can't I check out?" Ryo demanded heatedly, he'd been polite to nurse Sarah, even agreeing to let them continue poke him with needles, feed him hospital food and hand him pills to swallow.

Sarah sighed as she explained the situation to the vivacious boy again. "You have some residual internal bleeding of some sort between your diaphragm and your liver, your shin has a hairline fracture that should not be walked on, that 'cut' in your side needs to be re-stitched, there are numerous minor lacerations and bruises, _and_ you have a fever Akiyama-san."

Ryo flopped back onto his pillow with a grunt of aggravation and a wince. "How soon can I expect to be out of here? Can I at least make a phone call or two?"

The blonde sighed. "If I can find a portable phone perhaps you can make a call, but your father already knows you're here and the phone is not to be used for personal business."

Across the room, Kazu waved his cast in the air. "Excuse me, Sarah? How soon can I expect to be discharged?"

The nurse tugged at one of her pigtails. "In the same amount of time as Akiyama-san, perhaps five or so days." Sarah smiled at the pair and then made a hasty exit, not giving Ryo enough time to digest the information and argue with her more.

"_Five days? _" Ryo gaped, his eyes closed in defeat. "She's going to be so, so worried."

Kazu looked sympathetically at his friend, from what he'd gotten through the other teens' narrative, the pair were all but an unofficial couple, and that the nurse was not cooperating with letting Ryo use a phone was clearly driving him mad. They were both confined to their beds, and Kazu had recently discovered that Ryo could make a whole lot of noise when needed. "Dammit!" Ryo cursed. "This has got to violate a right of some sort! Let me use a freaking phone!" He cried in frustration and slumped deeper into his bed.

"Hey…" Kazu started, being oddly supportive and considerate. "It could be way worse. Currently, she'll be worried sick, sad, and scared for a few days, but you'll come back, right?" He said. "You could have not been found, and you could be dead. We both could, that's not how it worked out though, we've just… gotta be patient."

Ryo grunted and rolled over to stare heatedly out the window, the spectacular view of the city lost on him. His thoughts were dwelling on the fiery red-head he'd grown so infatuated with, who could be as tame and coy as a pussycat when she chose. He smiled at the thought, yes, he had definitely fallen for her.

---

s/k: No fluff in this chapter, but that's about all ¾ of the last chapteris, fluff coming out your ears! Hehe, I love fluff! It's so happy and floaty.


	19. Dusk

s/k: I'd really like to apologize to all my reviewers, who've been very, very _very _patient and haven't decapitated me yet… either way, I give you the last, (and properly last, this time) chapter of Tamers Game. I was surprised how hard it was to get the last three or four pages out of my head, like herding cats. (which is actually really difficult) The song I used is _As Lovers _Go by Dashboard Confessional, I don't own them. Anyways...please read, review, and then read the back stories, An Angels Wings (season 02) and Hidden in Plain Sight (season 03) Thank you to everyone who read this, you guys are amazing!

Ch. 19

Six days after they'd returned to the real world, the Tamers were starting to straighten out back into life. Henry and Kenta had thrown themselves into their school work so viciously that the pair were at least 1 unit ahead in nearly all their subjects. Suzi had avoided the other Tamers largely, spending time with friends her own age, and trying to settle herself back into normalcy. Takato and Jeri were spending more time together then they had before the groups' adventure. The comment the Scubamon had made about Takato looking after Jeri had struck a chord somewhere in the boy, he wasn't overly protective, but he made a point of knowing where she was a large percent of the time, watching out for her. Rika had retreated from the outside world significantly; anyone she didn't want talking to her was quickly sent packing with a smart remark and an insult.

_She said, "I've got to be honest,  
You're wasting your time if you're fishin' around here." _

Sixth day in the hospital, Ryo was sure he was about to be tipped past all points of sanity. He'd been allowed by the staff to take short walks around his room, and that was it other then chaperoned bathroom runs. The same room, same company, same view, for six long, tedious days. He was to be released at 4:00pm that afternoon, and he was watching the clock and pacing like a caged lion. Abruptly, the hour hand and the minute hand clicked into place, Ryo smiled for the first time in six days. "Kazu!" He said, waking the other boy from his nap. "Kazu it's four, we can go."

Kazu sat up, hair disheveled. "What? Oh, brilliant, let's go then, shall we?"

Ryo, already dressed in a clean navy T-shirt and khaki pants smiled, amused. "Are you going to leave with your butt hanging out of your dress?"

Kazu raised an eyebrow and then looked down at what he was wearing. The standard blue hospital smock happily stared right back at him. "Oh…" Ryo snickered. "Tell you what." Kazu started, "how about you go, and I'll get dressed and see you at school or something, ok?"

Ryo smiled. "Thanks Kazu, that'd work just fine." Ryo nodded his thanks and then turned, walking right out the door and past the nursing station. Sarah shook her head and glanced at the clock. Ryo gave a little wave as he went towards the elevator, and Sarah rolled her eyes, going back to her paper work.

_And I said, "You must be mistaken,  
I'm not foolin',  
_

Rika was wandering the park, school had just ended and she was avoiding going home. Her mother and grandma had been pretty good about not bothering her in the past few days, but it wasn't something that came naturally to her mother; the air in the house was getting thick and it felt suffocating. She'd taken to avoiding the house, and spending her afternoons sitting blankly on the roof of Guilmons' old hideout, or at the base of one of the large trees near it. She dropped her back pack by a tree and sat down beside it, tucking in one knee to rest her head on. _So this is how it happens, there is no fairy tale ending, it's just a battered group of people pretending they've readjusted. _Her train of thought flashed briefly on Kira and Meiko, and the other seemingly random adults that had appeared and come to their rescue. Were they alright? After six days was it possible that Ryo was with them? _No, Meiko would have e-mailed Henry, and Henry would have told me… wouldn't've he?_

She sighed, a low, sad, heavy sigh, and watched a squirrel as it warily skittered in front of her, stopping at the base of another tree, then scratching its way up among the branches. It bothered her that none of the other Tamers had said anything when she'd asked if they'd known where he was, if he was ok. They'd turned, their eyes downcast, and walked away. No one had said a word. Rika tightened her grip on her knee, clenching her jaw and glaring at the memory. Didn't they care? Didn't they care at all…?

Feeling isolated, Rika stayed as she was at the base of the tree. She was far enough off the path that those on it couldn't see her, and only their sounds filtered through to reach her ears. A cyclist went past, a group of some girls chattering to each other, two boys talking about who had the best deck of digimon cards... Sitting among the roots, she wondered if it had all been worth it. Going through the tedious process of understanding her digimon, her friends, if it all felt so wrong now that two parts of the whole were missing; one small, and aggravating, the other such a large piece that it was amazing the structure didn't collapse without it. _Is it possible to care too much about someone? Care to the point where if they're not there, the whole house of cards comes down…? Where it warps your reality? It's a whole lot of work for a single piece to shift, and everything to fall. Then there you are, back where you started with a deck of cards.  
_

_this feelin' is real."_

'It is for your own good.' Ryo was sick of hearing those words, that phrase had largely composed the conversations he and Nurse Sarah had had over the past six days. No one had been there to tell him that in the digital world and confine him to a bed when he was hurt, and in his opinion he'd come out of that just fine.

He'd left the hospital and gone straight to her house, hoping that she'd gone straight home from school. Her grandma answered the door, a tray of cookies in hand. Ryo's eyes widened at the sight of the cookies, chocolate batter with chocolate chips. He shook his head, _Rika is more important then cookies._ "Hi Mrs. Nonaka." He said, trying to ignore the smell of the woman's baking.

"Good afternoon Ryo, can I help you?" She asked sweetly, a little wrinkled smile on her face.

He nodded. "Yes, I was wondering if Rika was home."

Her eyes darkened, forehead wrinkling with the unnatural wrinkles of worry. "No, I'm sorry dear, she's not here. She's not come home from school yet."

"Alright," he replied, swallowing lightly and trying to think of where to look next, it was now just after five, and she really should have been home long ago. "Thank you." He nodded and turned to leave.

"Ryo, wait a second, will you?" The little woman called, he stopped where he was and pivoted around, not wanting to be rude. "Would you like a cookie or two? Perhaps if you take some for when you find Rika as well, I know she quite likes these ones."

He smiled, taking a few steps back towards her. "I'd love to, and I'll give some to Rika too." _If I find her, _his consciousness commented darkly, _she's no amateur when it comes to hiding._

---

Rika hadn't moved; she knew it was getting late, and that she would have to go in no more then 15 minutes anyway, but she found herself apprehensive about leaving her green cocoon. As soon as she stepped out onto the bike path there'd be people, who didn't know, or didn't remember, or didn't care.

She tugged her backpack closer to her and unzipped one of the smaller pockets, taking out her D-arc and just looking at it. The familiar cool, blue and white plastic was patterned with the shifting shadows of the leaves in the canopy; she imagined that she too was probably covered in little spidery shadows.

_When Ryo disappeared the world stopped turning, _she thought sadly to herself, _or at least… it should have._

---

When he found her, she was just emerging from the trees across from Guilmons' old hideout. It was the last place he'd though to look, the place he hadn't particularly wanted to go. After all, who wanted to return to the area they'd been seriously injured? It irked him when he realized that he was apprehensive about the place.

She stepped out of the wall of green, tucking her D-arc into her pocket. Before she moved out onto the path her head went up to check for any bikes or pedestrians, there wasn't any traffic, but what caught her eye made her freeze. "Ryo…"

Hearing her say his name was… incredible; an electric shock that ran down his spine. She was alright, mostly, there was a Band-Aid on her cheek, and her forearms were bruised, but she was ok. He didn't smile; he just strode across the concrete path and stood in front of her, looking her straight in the eye, at a complete loss for words.

She watched him, like some sort of cruel phantom as he stood there, a taunting trick of her imagination. His eyes were exactly like she remembered, he was close enough that she could smell him, a clean, outdoor smell, with hospital antiseptic hidden somewhere in the background. _I'm going insane…_

_She said, 'You've gotta be crazy!_

He raised his hand slowly, the tips of his fingers hovering just above her jaw line, afraid to actually touch her, as if she'd vanish and he'd be left staring at nothing. She brought her hand up. Her fingers only brushed his initially, but the contact with something solid was enough to make her grasp his hand tightly. "Why…" she whispered, her voice broken and a little higher then normal; her hand went limp and fell to her side. "Why didn't you call… or e-mail… or something… anything at all?" She asked; it was hard to stand so close to him and not touch him, not hug him, not kiss him. "You were bleeding so much… and you weren't there when the worlds separated… I thought you were lying in a ditch somewhere..." Her eyes were shiny, betraying how good she'd become at not crying. "I was so scared, you ass." Her eyelids covered their violet pupils, pushing the extra moisture to the outside corners. She lowered her head so he wouldn't see.

He couldn't move, he was stunned and ashamed. _She must have been really scared, to get a reaction like this… I can't believe she hasn't yelled… or hit me yet. _He caught a glimpse of her face before she dropped her head, trying vainly to hide the small tears that hadn't fallen. Her hand was held carefully still, refusing to grip his. He carefully brought his arms up a little and leaned forward, drawing her firmly into his embrace. "I was in the hospital; someone found me and called an ambulance." He murmured, relishing having her against him after not seeing her at all. "I'm so sorry I couldn't contact you Rika."

He felt her whole body tense up, where her hands rested on his shoulders her grip tightened. "You just drop off the face of the earth for six days, and you think 'sorry Rika' cuts it!" She cried as she tore herself out of his arms and pushing him back, not sure how to vent her hurt.

_What do you take me for? Some kind of easy mark?'_

Ryo watched her where she stood, trembling, fists clenched tightly at her sides. "Dammit Ryo…" She whispered, furious and hurt. Her eyes were still a little shiny, narrowed into violet slits that glared at him. _She's like a little wildcat,_ he thought to himself, _she's scared, I don't know why, but she's scared._

"No." He said quietly, staying where he was, resisting the urge to step towards her. "I don't think 'sorry' comes anywhere near what I want to say. It's an over-used word, and it hardly means anything in our society." His fingers were flexing slowly at his sides. "You're not on your own anymore Rika, I want to be with you, I want to make it stop hurting for you."

_"No, you've got wits,  
You've got looks,  
You've got passion,  
But I swear that you've got me all wrong."_

She didn't know what was wrong with her, why she was being so volatile towards him? He didn't really deserve it, did he? More then anything she began to realize how terrified she was, that at the back of her mind, she was terrified that a single person could hold so much sway over her. She flinched when he took a step towards her, it seemed like she was watching a movie of herself as she reacted. Everything was mixed up, her body and her mind weren't functioning as they should have, and yet she was hypersensitive to everything around her.

_All wrong…  
All wrong…_

Ryo wasn't sure what to do or say, she was perhaps a meter and a half away from him, looking as if she were ready to turn and run. "You're safe here Rika, you don't have to fight anymore."

_But you've got me…_

This time when he came towards her she didn't flinch, or try to run. She watched him as he got closer with wide violet eyes. His own deep blue gaze didn't move from her face, carefully gauging how far he could push her limits right then. When he was directly in front of her, her head tilted upwards to look at him, he lightly wrapped his arms around her waist, gently pulling her into him. He was careful not to grip her tightly, so that if she chose to pull away she'd be able to.

She just looked at him blankly, not sure what to do. He was there, he was holding her and he was real. _He's here… _his grip on her tightened, pressing her into him.

_I'll be true, I'll be useful, I'll be cavalier_

_I'll be yours my dear_

She hadn't returned his hug, but she hadn't pushed away either. She was pressed up against him, her forehead resting on his shoulder; quiet ragged breathes tickling his neck. It was confusing him, like she didn't know what to do, and so did nothing. _She's still got that little section of ice, it's just been waiting, hiding… hiding that it's still frozen. _He closed his eyes, trying to decide what to do.

_I'll belong to you _

_If you just let me through_

There was no real reason to deny it, she was as close to loving him as she'd come to anyone for a very, very long time. So why was it such a terrifying, painful moment? He was alive, alright, yet all she could do was stand there, like a limp rag doll.

He didn't say anything, what could he say? He just held her and hoped.

_This is easy as lovers go  
So don't, complicate it by hesitating_

Slowly, carefully, as if she were afraid she'd shatter into a thousand shards of glass; she brought her arms up under his and wrapped them around his neck. Her grip stayed a little loose for a moment, then tightened fiercely. A tiny whimper reached Ryo's ears, and he kissed her neck lightly. _It'll be ok…_ he thought, hugging her tighter.

_This is wonderful as loving goes  
This is tailor-made  
What's the sense in waiting?_

Rika didn't cry, it was something she'd become accustomed to. Other people cried, she didn't cry. She did utter the quietest possible whimper though, and snuggle deeper into his shoulder. He smelled good, and he wasn't trying to say anything cliché that was supposed to make all her problems vanish. _Maybe…_ she heard her mind whisper, _maybe the house of cards will stand a while longer…_

_I said, "I've gotta be honest, _

_I've been waiting for you all my life."_

Ryo let himself smile a little. _This is how it ends in all the books, right? _His smile grew wider, _the prince arrives and through some means, ends up holding the girl, and in the end it all works out. _His thoughts momentarily touched on the darker side of things, the residue Tueno had left in their lives. _Most of the time. _He closed his eyes, and started to spin, holding Rika tighter as he did until her feet left the ground and she gripped him like a lifeline in a sea of black. As they spun the sunlight was filtered through the trees in a soft, green light. Anyone cycling or walking past had to smile at the pair of teens, laughing under the green boughs,

_For so long I thought I was asylum bound,  
But just seeing you makes me think twice.  
And being with you here makes me sane.  
I fear I'll go crazy if you leave my side._

Ryo lifted Rika away from himself for a second, managing to hold her so he could watch the flashing emerald background whip around behind her head. She braced her arms on his shoulders, feeling his muscle flex fluidly beneath her fingers. She laughed; a little laugh at first that bubbled out of her lips until she was crying with relief. The pair collapsed on the grass, the moment lived, and just watched the sky with a faint smile on their face.

_You've got wits  
You've got looks  
You've got passion  
But are you brave enough to leave with me tonight? _

They watched the sky as it changed from the lighter blue to a brilliant orange, dotted with crisp, swirled pink and purple clouds, eventually fading into patches of stars on a deep navy blue. Most of the stars were blotted out by the orange glow from the street lamps, and the white lights still used by the workaholics in their office buildings surrounding the park; but somehow, even though there wasn't any music, and the stars weren't especially numerous, and the moon wasn't whole and bright… neither of them particularly cared.

_Tonight…  
Tonight…_

Rika heard Ryo roll onto his side next to her. Silently she turned her head to look at him in the darkness. He smirked his signature smirk, and brushed his fingers down the side of her face.

_You've got me…_

She wiggled over until she could feel him next to her, and snuggled against him, leaning her head on his chest as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. It was getting chilly, despite the coming summer. Just remembering, Ryo sat up and pulled Rika with him, finding the brown paper bag of cookies Rika's grandmother had given him. "Hey," he smiled at her. "Want some cookies? Haven't got any milk with me… but the cookies smelled really good when your grandma gave them to me."

Rika's eyes shifted up to look at him. "You have my grandmothers' cookies?"

He nodded. "Long story, but yeah. Want some?"

"Are you kidding?" She laughed, his heart jumped into his throat at hearing the sound. "My grandmother makes the single best cookies on the planet! What kind was she baking?"

The paper bag crinkled sharply over the faded sound of traffic, as it opened the pair could still smell the chocolate. Rika's grin widened when Ryo pulled one out. "Now," he said seriously, "what have you done lately to deserve this delicious double chocolate cookie?" He was holding it loosely in his right hand, with his left arm propping him up on the grass. One of Rika's eyebrows rose as if to say 'you can't be serious'. He grinned saucily at her and waved the cookie back and forth a few times.

Rika looked him in the eye and leaned forwards, nuzzling his nose a second with hers before kissing him. Ryo's eyes popped open, and in his moment of complete shock, she snagged the cookie and took a big, smug bite.

_I'll be true, I'll be useful, I'll be cavalier,  
I'll be yours my dear_

_I'll belong to you _

_If you just let me through_

It was while she was sitting there, smugly swallowing her victory bite that he caught her unawares. Faster then her eyes could register he rolled forwards and wrapped his arms around her waist, his momentum carrying them in a log roll for a few seconds before he stopped them, Rika pinned neatly beneath him. "Gotcha." He whispered in her ear, and kissed her gently. She wiggled her arms free and latched them around his neck, pulling him closer and returning the kiss; double chocolate cookie forgotten on the grass beside them.

_This is easy as lovers go_

_So don't complicate it by hesitating_

It was late when the pair walked the last remaining block to Rika's house, Ryo's arm wrapped around her waist. They stopped silently at the gate, and Ryo brought his other arm around her, hugging her tightly. "So," he started with the smirk once again on his face. "I guess that means we're still on for sushi?"

Rika laughed quietly, and pushed herself up onto her toes to reach his lips. She placed a small kiss there, and grinned. "Yeah, you could say that."

They embraced once more, and then Rika turned and opened the gate, strolling down the short walk before sliding the door open. Her back was straight, and her step sure, once she'd started walking away, she didn't look back. Ryo leaned on the side of the open gate and smiled to himself. _That's my girl._

_This is wonderful as loving goes  
This is tailor-made what's the sense in waiting?_

It was a Friday when everyone managed to get together, and a kind of celebratory picnic meal had been made for after school by Kenta, Jeri and Takato. They assembled in one of the fields at the park, and promptly set about doing severe damage to the pastries, cookies, sandwiches, and other random munchies.

"I still can't believe we made it." Henry said, shaking his head and taking a bit of his freshly unwrapped pastry. "We took on something pretty incredible, and I think that might truly be the last of it."

Kenta nearly choked on his sandwich. Once he'd managed to swallow he practically screamed: "Don't say that you'll jinx it!"

The Tamers cracked up as Kenta took a long swig of pop to clear his throat better. With his airway appropriately clear, Kenta took a minute to just look at the others sitting around him. Rika had installed herself next to Ryo. Next to Rika was Suzi, her pink vest lying behind her patched with different shades of pink fabric. To her left sat Takato and Jeri, amiably sharing a bag of salt and vinegar chips. To their left sat Kazu, visor on crooked, arm in a sling, foot in a cast. They'd all bee so shocked to see the two Tamers arrive at school a few days ago, Kazu bandaged and Ryo grumbling about 47 stitches. When they'd related their sides of the story, and Henry had told them about his latest e-mail from Meiko, they all agreed that even if the explanation to their presence wasn't completely understandable, it was a moot point.

Kenta was pulled out of his thoughts as Suzi expertly tossed a pastry at him. He ducked just in time, and the pastry sailed over his right shoulder, landing with a soft 'rustle in the grass behind him. She laughed, a light, giggly laugh, and Kenta wondered vaguely how to ask Henry if his younger sister was off-limits.

_This is easy as lovers go  
So don't complicate it by hesitating_

Jeri poked Takato's side, making him yelp and tip over sideways. Henry raised his eyebrow at Takato and just shook his head. "You're ridiculous, you know that 'kato?"

"I am not ridiculous." Takato declared as he righted himself and promptly snagged Jeri's wrists before she could poke him again. "I'm just… ahm…" He paused to think up a better word as his girlfriend attempted to wrestle her hands free.

Ryo broke the carefree mood into a moment of sense as he voiced one of the thoughts that had been hovering at the back of his mind. "Seriously though, would you guys ever truly not want to be hit with a challenge again?" The Tamers turned one by one to look at him, and think. "I mean, sure it's more dangerous then anything else we do, but wouldn't you be even a little bit sad if we never got attacked again?"

Kazu sighed. "When you put it like that…"

"It's a bit like gambling, isn't it?" Suzi spoke up. "You deal with whatever you get."

Henry snorted indignantly. "You guys are making this sound like it's some sort of game. Need I remind everyone about a little word; casualties?"

Ryo raised his eyebrows and dropped his gaze to the grass. "One hell of a game."

"Still," Rika argued. "I can see what Ryo means. It's like a bunch of adrenaline junkies, looking for a dangerous thrill, without realizing it."

"I take offense to that remark!" Kazu pouted theatrically, crossing his good arm over the one in the white sling.

"Tamers game." Henry nodded his agreement with Rika. "Like war, but we're the generals, and the soldiers. The strategists, and the pilots."

Suzi laughed, this time it almost seemed like there was a touch of cynicism in the sound. "One hell of a game."

_This is wonderful as loving goes  
This is tailor-made what's the sense in waiting… ?_


End file.
